The art of the supra
The importance that Georgians attach to their loved ones often manifests itself in the form of the supra. This banquet - very important in the country - is not only a good opportunity to feast on tasty dishes, this event is also reserved for distinguished guests and important moments, which are accompanied by polyphonic songs and other traditional music. Each supra has its own tamada (table leader), whose job it is to toast and entertain guests throughout the meal. It goes without saying that the tamada must have a strong stomach, as he or she must be able to take a drink with each toast.
Georgian banquets are made up of a multitude of dishes, particularly starters and other appetizers reminiscent of the mezze served in Turkey. These includeabkhazura, meatballs rolled in cheesecloth, andachma, a kind of multi-layered pastry that could be likened to cheese baklava. Eggplants play a key role in local cuisine, and come in all shapes and sizes, as inajapsandali, a mixture of eggplant, tomatoes, peppers and onions that have been preserved for a long time, or badrijnis khizilala, the regional version of eggplant caviar. Or the classic nigvziani badrijani, with slices of fried eggplant topped with walnut cream. Like eggplant, this dried fruit plays a major role in Georgian cuisine. It is also used inajika, a spicy purée made with chillies - red or green - walnuts, garlic and coriander. Pkhali comes in the form of small dumplings of chopped vegetables, mainly spinach, beet or cabbage, bound together with walnut powder. Finally, lobio is a spicy white bean purée. This purée is used to fill lobiani, a kind of turnover.
Hors d'oeuvres and cheese
There are also many meat-based appetizers, such as kuchmachi, a fricasseed poultry liver decorated with pomegranate seeds, or kupati, a pork sausage from western Georgia. Despite its similar name, kubdari is a meat (lamb, kid or pork) and onion turnover. Reserved for more experienced palates, mujuji is a kind of pork-based head cheese, frozen in a generous amount of gelatin. Another snack isapokhti, dried and smoked meat (beef, lamb, goose, duck).
Of course, salads are also very popular, especially during the long, hot summers. Kitri pomidvris salata consists of cucumbers and tomatoes, richly garnished with herbs. It is sometimes served with a walnut sauce. Sagazapkhulo salata is prepared in spring. There is no strict recipe, but it is mainly made with fresh ingredients and hard-boiled eggs. But you can also enjoy simpler specialties such as satatsuris salata with asparagus or tcharkhlis salata with beet.
There are also a number of cheeses of varying degrees of ripeness and creaminess, such as nadughi, which is similar to a slightly grainy fromage frais. Sulguni is one of Georgia's most famous cheeses, from Mingrelia in the west of the country. It is made from cow's or buffalo's milk. But there's alsoadjaruli chechili, a cow's milk cheese similar to mozzarella, which is knotted into a braid. Chkinti is a dense, salty cheese originally made in Imeretia, in the center of the country. Dambalkhacho is one of Georgia's rarest and most expensive cheeses. It takes the form of small balls, naturally powdered with mold. It is produced in Pshavi and Mtiuleti. Despite its name, guda bears no resemblance to the similar-sounding Dutch cheese; it is white, soft but crumbly and pitted with numerous holes. The spectacular tenili is very stringy.
The khachapuri
If there's one specialty that could epitomize Georgian gastronomy, it's khachapuri. Although often a hearty snack eaten on the go, it can also be a real meal. This slightly flat, brioche-like bread is filled in the center with melted cheese. The crust is used for dipping into the cheese. However, there are several types, depending on the region. The best known are those from Adjaria(adjaruli) or Mingrelia(megruli), shaped like a boat and filled with cheese and an egg, which is brushed with melted butter before serving. In Imeretia, khachapuri(imeruli) is more like a circular turnover filled with cheese. In Ossetia(osuri), the filling includes potatoes. Finally, penovani khachapuri is made with puff pastry. Khachapuri is so common in Georgia that its price is even used to calculate inflation. It has become very popular in the countries of the former USSR.
The other basics of Georgian cuisine
But Georgians also enjoy a wide range of stews and soups, such as bozbashi made with mutton and peas and chestnuts, and chakapuli, a lamb or beef stew richly flavored with tarragon and garnished with alucha, a variety of highly acidic plums commonly used in Caucasian cuisine. They are also used to prepare kharcho, a soup based on beef, rice and nuts. Chakhokhbili, originally from western Georgia, is prepared with tomatoes and poultry. Chikhirtma is a creamy soup with poultry, eggs and aromatic herbs.
There are also many meat specialties, such as the classic gufta, which is a distortion of the Persian word kefta, meaning spicy meatballs. The same is true of kababi, derived from the Turkish word kebab. In Georgia, it takes the form of minced meat skewers decorated with pomegranate seeds. Closely related, mtsvadi is also a specialty of grilled meat skewers. Qaurma is for a more adventurous crowd, as it consists of various offal of pork or beef, simmered in a spicy pomegranate sauce.
Poultry is also very popular in Georgia. Probably the best-known dish is satsivi, a hot or cold chicken dish served with a creamy walnut sauce called bazhe, which originated in western Georgia. Another popular dish is shkmeruli, a simple but tasty recipe for chicken in a cream sauce. Finally, tabaka is a specialty of roast chicken coated withadjika, the famous chili nut paste that Georgians love so much.
There are also mixed dishes such as tolma, the Georgian version of the Turkish dolma. The filling consists mainly of minced meat rolled in cabbage or vine leaves.
Another popular dish is khinkali, small purse-shaped ravioli filled with meat (beef, lamb or pork). Finally, shilaplavi is a spicy rice dish garnished with lamb and mushrooms.
Fish and bread
Opening onto the Black Sea and dotted with lakes and rivers, Georgia is unsurprisingly home to many fish specialties. These include kalmakhi tarkhunit, or fried trout with tarragon, or kobri nigvzit da brotseulit, a recipe for carp fried with walnuts and pomegranate seeds. Catfish, too, is popular, for example boiled with coriander and vinegar, known as loko kindzmarshi, or simmered in red wine as in loko tsiteli ghvinit. The term kepali refers to mullet, the fish most often fried in Georgia.
Dishes are usually accompanied by a variety of breads, although most are flatbreads rather than the leavened breads we eat in France. Traditional Georgian breads are varied and include tonis puri, mesxuri puri, nazuki or shotis puri, shaped like a boat. The round, flat mchadi is made from corn flour, not wheat. It is usually eaten with lobio (mashed beans) and fromage frais. In Georgia, breads are traditionally baked in a round oven called a tone, where the loaves are pressed against the hot surface of the clay oven, where they cook in an instant before being lifted out and cooled.
Desserts and other treats
Georgia has a fairly modest dessert culture, and most preparations remain rather simple. There are a few dairy products that are very popular as desserts, such as matsoni, similar to yoghurt or sour cream. Thanks to its mild climate, the country is able to grow a wide variety of fruit: figs, apricots, grapes, pomegranates, plums, apples, quinces and citrus fruits, which are often found dried, where they are known as chiri. On a trip to Georgia, it's almost impossible to miss the churchkhela. These spectacular confections might look like long, brightly-colored candles. In fact, they are garlands of nuts coated with dozens of layers of grape-juice glaze. Janjukha is very similar, but the nuts are replaced by hazelnuts. These specialties are extremely nourishing and were once used as an equivalent to our protein bars. Gozinaki is also a diamond-shaped confection made from chopped nuts and honey. Finally, tklapi is a soft confection made from fruit juices (grapes, apricots, plums, cherries and figs) that are spread very thinly to dry, then cut into pieces and rolled into tubes.
Another emblematic Georgian dessert, pelamushi, is a kind of flan made from thickened grape juice, which is unsurprisingly sprinkled with walnuts before serving. Finally, muraba is a generic term for various types of jam made mainly from whole fruits such as green walnuts (with their shells), watermelon, quince, fig or wild rose. And let's not forget cakes and pastries such as nazuki, a sweet bread with cinnamon, lemon and raisins, or pakhlava, the Adjarian version of the famous baklava. Shaqarlama, also from Adjaria, is a type of shortbread made with honey.
Georgian wine
Georgia is one of the world's oldest wine-producing regions. The fertile valleys and protective slopes of the Transcaucasus have been home to vine cultivation and wine production for at least eight thousand years. Georgia's best-known wine-growing regions include Kakhetia (still divided into the micro-regions of Telavi and Kvareli), Kartli, Imerety, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo-Svanety, Adjaria and Abkhazia. Unlike most European countries, where wine is aged in barrels, in Georgia the kvevri is used for vinification. This is a type of terracotta amphora with a capacity of around 800 to 3,500 liters, the use of which was inscribed on Unesco's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2017. The best-known Georgian wines are pirosmani, alazani, akhasheni, saperavi and kindzmarauli. Many Georgian wines are made from traditional grape varieties, little known in the West, such as saperavi and rkatsiteli. Conversely, local wines are well known in Eastern Europe and particularly in Russia, where they were served at the tables of Russian aristocrats and later the Soviet elite. As a result, it remains highly appreciated abroad, with exports of over 10 million bottles of wine a year.
Other drinks
Another emblematic Georgian spirit, chacha or tchatcha is a clear grape marc brandy (ranging from 40% alcohol for commercial production to 65% for home brewing), sometimes called "wine vodka", "grape vodka" or "Georgian grappa". It can also be made from unripe or wild grapes. It is sometimes prepared with other fruits or herbs, such as figs, mandarins, oranges, blackberries or even tarragon. Many Georgians claim that chacha has medicinal properties.
Georgia is also home to many beer brands, including Natakhtari, Kazbegi, Argo, Kasri and Karva. Although beer is less widely consumed than wine, it is still very popular, especially with the younger generation, and there are a growing number of microbreweries throughout the country, especially in the capital.
Among non-alcoholic beverages, there's the famous Laghidze water, a lemonade made from a variety of natural syrups (lemon, pomegranate, tarragon, etc.), sold in bottles or mixed directly in a glass from a soda fountain. Invented in 1900 by a pharmacist by the name of Mitrofan Laghidze, it is now very popular throughout Eastern Europe, and was even included on Unesco's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2014.
Finally, thanks to the influences of the Black Sea, much of western Georgia enjoys a mild, humid climate, ideal for growing tea, the first seeds of which were planted in the country at the end of the 19th century. Under both the Russian Empire and the USSR, Georgia was the main tea-growing area in the region, a beverage that Russians love. Although tea-growing in the country has been in decline since the 1970s, it is now enjoying a revival, and tea - black tea - remains very popular with Georgians.
