culinary paradise: Georgia

Oct 20

Oct 20 culinary paradise: Georgia

When people asked us why we wanted to travel to Georgia so much, one of our answers was: the food. True, Georgian cuisine might not be very known to the rest of the world but in Poland you can get it quite a lot and boy, is it good! So no, it wan’t the first time for us trying Georgian food but the truth is, none of our previous experiences could even compare to what we had a chance to taste during our trip.

where to eat?

Good news is - you can try authentic Georgian cooking everywhere you go in Georgia. The country is not as developed and international yet to offer a wide range of foreign foods and most of the restaurants you can find are homey family businesses. Even more so, if you’re staying at local guesthouses where most of the owners offer to cook for you for breakfast or dinner. And that’s exactly what we did.

Most of our meals were served to us by our hosts but we did have a chance to visit some restaurants as well. Prior to our trip, I was surprised how difficult it was to get some good restaurant recommendations from fellow travellers but I quickly understood why - the food is good wherever you go in Georgia. What a blessing!

what to eat?

What you have to keep in mind though, is that Georgian cuisine is a… hearty one. Fresh bread, lots of melted cheese, meaty stews, homemade alcohol. To our surprise, breakfast and dinner don’t necessarily vary in quantity (or type of food for that matter) so for the whole week we ended up starting our days with an enormous breakfast and stayed full until dinnertime. If anyone manages to squeeze in a 3rd meal in between… chapeau bas!

The portions are also very generous and it’s very easy to over-order. Sharing plates is the way to go, especially when it comes to khachapuri.

how much does it cost?

Breakfasts and dinners at guesthouses cost 15-20 Georgian lari per person (this includes food and drinks and plenty of it!). To be honesy, we also never paid more in a restuanrant either. 10 GEL = 3€ so more than affordable as you can see.

*Chicken mcvadi and kababi, tkemali sauce and fresh shot bread*

Georgian cuisine

starters & side dishes

To be completely honest, as mentioned above, main dishes in Georgia are so generous and filling that normally I would advise to skeep starters. However, most of these are veggie-based and are a perfect addition to more fatty and heavy mains.

Badrijani
Fried eggplant stuffed with garlic-walnut paste. My favourite starter!

Pickles
Sounds like nothing special - literally a plate of different pickled vegetables. However, for big pickle-fans like us, it was amazing to get to try home-made cucumbers, peppers and… staphylea flowers which are a local Georgian speciality (djondjoli).

Kartuli Salati
The simplest salad in the world: fredh cucumber + tomato + onion. Good veggie portion on the side of all the full-fat full-carbs Georgian main dishes.

Cheese
Remember we have a French on the team so cheese is a thing - hopefully, Georgian cheese didn’t disappoint. Closer to Polish or Balkan types, the local cheese varies from strong smoked or salty feta-like ones to more gentle and fresh.

Bread - Shoti
Traditional Geogrian bread is baked in a special oven called tone and eaten fresh even still warm. It’s shaped like a canoe and remindes of a traditional-type French baguette in taste and structure.

Sauces: Tkemali & Narsharab
This comes handy when you order meat as usually you will be asked if you want any sauce on the side. Tkemali is a bitter green herby sauce made with plums, coriander and dill (not to my liking at all but Thomas loved it!). Second, Narsharab, is a dense red sauce made of thickened pomegranate juice. Sweet and gnetle in taste.

50 shades of khachapuri

You can’t be in Georgia and not try khachapuri same as you can’t be in Italy and not try pasta. This icon of Georgian cuisine is basically a cheese pie but comes in a lot of different varieties.

Imeruli
Circular pie filled with cheese and covered in thin crust. The most popular type.

Merguli
Very similiar to Imeruli but with additional cheese on top of the crust.

Adjaruli
Thicker crust (more pizza-like) formed into an open-boat shape and served with raw egg on top. Mix the egg with cheese when still hot and use the crust to dip in the mixture. Heaven. Our favourite!

Kubdari
Not technically a khachapuri but very close. A pie filled with meat and onions.

Lobiani
Same as kubdari but filled with a red bean paste instead.

meats

However amazing khachapuri is (and yes, you CAN eat it for a week and not get bored), a good piece of meat goes great on the side. Veggies can skip to the next section!

Kababi
A Georigian take on kebab. Minced meat served shaped like sausages often with a thin bread called lavash.

Mcvadi
Meat skewers, most often of chicken or pork. Served with different sauces as mentioned above.

Kupati
Local home-made sausage. Very herby and garlicky. Yum!

Shkmeruli
Chicken served in white milky garlic sauce. Absolutely delicious!

Ostri
Hot, spicy stew of different types of meat. Most traditionally beef but you can also find pork or chicken cooked this way.

other main dishes

Khinkali
Another favourite and an absolute must-try: Georgian soup dumplings. There’s a certain correct way of eating them so you might want to check it out frist.

Ajaspandali
Vegetable stew with potatoes, eggplant and bell peppers.

Ojakhuri
Roasted meat (pork, chicken, lamb, or beef) covered with layers of onions and potatoes.

wine

Last but definitely not least, Georgian wine and here you are for truly something special. Did you know that Georgia is one of the oldest wine regions in the world?

Traditional Georgian wine is nothing like most of the wines we’re used to in Europe and the loca wine-making process is nowadays protected by UNESCO. No chemicals or fancy machinery, Georgian grapes are simply pressed and placed in a clay jar, which is then sealed and burried in the ground for the wine to ferment for 5 to 6 months before being drunk.