Pass the Khachapuri, Please

I took some pictures of typical Georgian food for your viewing pleasure! When I first moved here, I did not care for any of it. The longer I live here, I find that there are a few things I like. By the time we leave Georgia, I may have developed actual cravings....hmmm, we'll see.

Every meal starts with Puri (bread)

Khinkali: dumpling with meat, cheese, potato, or mushrooms inside. There is a certain amount of skill involved in eating these. You are supposed to hold it by the stubby end, take a bite and at the same time suck out all of the juices. After all of the juice is sucked out, then you can actually eat it. Unfortunately, no one told me this when I first tried it and I ended up with juice running down my chin and all over my shirt. It is fun to see this dish being brought out by the dozens to large tables of men drinking heavily. Many people believe that Khinkali and alcohol go hand and hand.

Kabob: a flour-like tortilla (called levash) wrapped around semi-fried beef in the shape of a long rod. Not your momma's kabob.

Khachapuri: This is a Georgian staple. It is a pastry-like dough filled with melted Georgian cheese (called sulguni). There are so many different ways of making this, so it is different at every restaurant. There are also different versions based on the region of the country.

This is Adjarian Khachapuri: the bread is made into a boat shape and then filled with cheese and baked multiple times. Right before they bring it to your table, they put a raw egg and a pat of butter on top. The proper procedure for eating this kind of khachapuri is to stir it immediately upon arrival so that the egg cooks...that is how extremely hot it is!

Lobio: The word for beans in Georgian is lobio. When you order lobio in restaurants, these kidney beans come stewed in a clay pot. People eat it plain or with their puri. They use some different spices and it is pretty tasty.

M'tsvadi (Shashlik in Russian): This is what we think of as shish kabob in America. You can get chicken, pork, beef, or veal. You can often see people BBQing this on the street as well. It is customary to remove the meat from the skewers with one piece of bread. This bread then has all of the juices from the meat and therefore considered a delicacy.

Water: Not as simple as one might think. There is water with gas and without gas. Within the 'gas family' of water, there are three kinds: Nabeghlavi, Likani, and Borjomi. The difference between these three waters is their level of saltiness.

Salate Kitri da Pomadori Nicoisi: Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Walnut Paste. Yummy!

Badrijani: Grilled Eggplant stuffed with walnut paste (there are a few versions of how this is prepared, but usually have similar ingredients). Eggplant is used in many dishes...too bad I don't like it.

Georgian Lemonade: The best part about ordering lemonade is when the server asks, "what flavor?" There is pear, tarragon, and lemon. The lemon tastes like 7 up on a sugar high. The tarragon resembles a radioactive by-product, so I refuse to drink it.

Lemon Flavor:

Tarragon Flavor:

So although I may be beginning to like some of the Georgian food, the one thing I will not get used to is the smoke filled restaurants. When I come home from a dinner out, I smell my clothes and hair and am reminded of my many nights spent in bars (does this sound bad?). I rush to take a shower and hang my clothes outside to air out (my old trick of putting all my clothes in the dryer with a dryer sheet does not work since we don't have a dryer!). However, if you go out early enough, you can avoid some of the smoke.

I tried to capture the smoke lingering in the air...not sure if you can see it, but believe me, it was there.