Good_Things_Magazine_AprilMay_2017

122 goodthingsmagazine.com

A

s the frontier between Europe

and Asia, where caravans and

camels stopped along the

silk road in ancient times,

Georgia offers a rich, complex cuisine

which blends together Middle Eastern,

Mediterranean and Slavic flavours.

Thanks to distinct microclimates, the

country has a stagering 62 varieties of

cheese, a different type of khachapuri

bread for each region, time-honoured

food traditions in remote mountain areas,

and local markets which burst with the

Caucasus country’s immense diversity

of fruit and vegetables.

And then there are the 525 indigenous

grape varieties, and an ancient 8,000

year-old wine-making tradition that

claims to be the oldest in the world –

making Georgia the birthplace of the

much-loved tipple.

Here are just 12 good reasons to visit...

1. CHERRIES FROM HEAVEN
   Harvested from the Kakheti and
   Guria regions in June, sour, tart and
   sweet cherries are Georgia’s secret
   culinary weapon. Along with sloes and
   pomegranates, they’re used as a base for
   savoury sauces, appear in dumplings, are
   dried and added to meat dishes, and made
   into sweetmeats like cherry muraba.


2. KHINKALI DUMPLINGS^
   Pay your respects to the country’s most
   famous finger food (introduced to Georgia
   by the Tartars in the 13th century) with
   a meal at one of its many sakhinkles (or
   khinkali houses). The perfect dumpling
   is said to have 19 pleats, which you should

devour by grabbing its kudi – topknot

• and slurping down the boiling broth
  before consuming the juicy meat.

3. SWEET CHURCHKHELA
   Once used as a sugary rush by the
   Georgian military, these colourful
   confections are the local candy of choice.
   Mistaken by tourists for sausages or
   candles, the protein-packed, hanging
   truncheons are made from strands
   of threaded walnuts encased in waxy
   sheaths of dried, concentrated grape juice.


4. THE MOTHER OF GEORGIA
   Watching over Old Tbilisi from the slopes
   of Sololaki hill is the aptly-named Mother
   of Georgia statue, also known as Kartlis
   Deda. Not only an emblem of the capital,
   but the embodiment of the country’s
   spirit, she cradles a sword in her right
   hand to ward off enemies and a bowl
   of wine – a symbol of Georgia’s famous
   hospitality – in her le˜.


5. POMEGRANATES IN MTSKHETA
   As well as being one of the oldest
   inhabited cities in the world, Mtskheta –
   which lies just 15km north of Tbilisi – has
   a colourful daily market which extends
   from the church entrance along the main
   drag and down a labyrinth of connecting
   alleyways. Freshly squeezed pomegranate
   juice is made from a fruit that has grown
   in this part of the world for millennia.


6. FOOD IN A PICKLE
   Locals o˜en jest that no vegetable is safe
   from fermentation! Towering tangles of
   ajonjoli (a pickled wild flower), cabbage
   (o˜en dyed red with beetroot), peppers,
   fermented whole garlic (mzhave niori),
   and even watermelon dominate Telavi
   Market. They’re great for digestion, and
   make an excellent partner for chacha –
   the country’s infamous grape brandy.


7. NUTS FOR BADRIJANI NIGVZIT
   Walnuts are Georgia’s second bigest
   export and a staple of Georgian cuisine.
   The versatile nut can be pulverised and
   used in soups, pickled in slack wine
   (nigozis muraba), sweetened with honey

CUISINE at a

CROSSROADS

Sarah Freeman’s photoessay explores

the vibrant food culture of Georgia

Georgia_MATT_CH_v2CATHY ZP.indd 122 04/04/2017 20:44