Georgian Cuisine

Appetizers

Khachapuri or cheese bread is a filled bread dish. The bread is leavened and allowed to rise, then shaped in different ways. The filling includes cheese (fresh or aged, most commonly suluguni), eggs and other ingredients.

Georgian Cheese Pastries are made with a pastry dough that is prepared and refridgerated for at least an hour or up to 30 days. The dough is rolled out and cut into circles then filled with a mixture of muenster, cheddar, and parmesan cheeses, parsley, chives, and mint. Then baked to a golden brown.

Tolma or stuffed grape leaves are prepared with minced lamb that is mixed with rice, chopped onion, and dill. It is seasoned with salt and pepper and the ingredients are rolled up into grape leaves. The rolls are put into a casserole dish with butter and stock poured over them. Then covered tightly and simmered for an hour. They are served with sour cream that has been mixed with grated garlic and salt or cinnamon with powdered sugar.

Soups

Khashi is a tripe soup prepared with ground suet and place in a soup pot with a split calf's foot and beef tripe and cooked over low heat. When the meat gives off juices, water is added and the soup is left to cook for 5 to 6 hours until the tripe is tender. Bread is soaked in milk. Before serving the soup the calf's foot is removed and the bread is stirred into the soup. For added flavor salt, pepper and grated garlic are added.

Chikhirtma is a Georgian mutton soup prepared by boiling mutton until tender and straining the stock through a cheesecloth. Chopped onion is sauteed in butter and sprinkled with flour and browned. The mutton is returned to the soup stock and the onions are added along with flour and pepper. Grape vinegar is boiled separately and added to the soup then the whole pot is brought to a boil and removed. Egg yolks are beaten with a little stock and stirred into the soup. Coriander leaves are sprinkled on top and the soup is served.

Gulaschsuppe or Goulash Soup is made with fried onions combined with green peppers and tomato paste. Lean beef is cubed and added to a pot along with garlic cloves, red pepper, paprika, beef broth, lemon juice, and caraway seeds and stewed until the meat is tender. If preferred cubed potatoes can be added.

Kharcho is a beef soup prepared with a brisket cut into pieces and boiled. After the meat has been simmering for two hours sliced onion, crushed garlic, rice, and tart plums are added to the pot. After simmering for another 25 minutes sauteed tomatoes or tomato puree is added and left to simmer for another 5 - 10 minutes. The soup is sprinkled with chopped coriander, parsley, or dill and served.

Salads

Lobio is a famous Georgian salad prepared with kidney beans. Georgia has two varieties of kidney beans - red and white. Georgia is known for its salads made with both kinds of beans and their dressings.

Adjapsandal of Eggplant is prepared with eggplant cut into pieces, sprinkled with salt and set aside for half an hour. The onions are finely shredded and stewed along with the eggplant. A laurel leaf and Bulgarian pepper are added along with shredded greens, garlic, salt and pepper.

Beet Salad Georgian Style is made with boiled beets, prunes, garlic, and walnuts that have been processed in a food processor. After salt, pepper, and mayonnaise is added and mixed through. If you want a chunkier salad beets can be grated and the walnuts chopped.

Meat dishes

Bazhe is a typical western Georgia sauce that is made with ground walnuts and garlic pounded with salt. The ground walnuts are sprinkled with saffron and the garlic is added. The mixture is diluted with chilled broth. A whole chicken is boiled and cut into pieces then the sauce is poured over and served.

Chicken Chakhokhbili is prepared with a chicken cut into pieces and browned in a casserole dish. Onions are finely chopped and tomato puree, vinegar, wine Madiera or Port, meat stock, and seasonings are combined and added to the chicken then simmered for an hour. Sliced tomatoes are added. The chicken pieces are served with a slice of lemon on each plate and sprinkled with chopped greens.

Country Beef Stew is made with beef tenderloin cut into small pieces. Finely chopped onions are sauteed and added to the pot along with tomato puree, peeled and sliced pickled cucumbers, garlic, salt, grape wine and meat stock. The stew is simmered for about 40 minutes and served with chopped parsley.

Chanakhi is made with slices of lamb topped with eggplants, pepper, greens, cubed potatoes and chopped onion. Tomato paste is dissolved in broth with garlic and poured over all and stewed. Just before the dish is done tomatoes are added.

Georgian Shashlik is prepared with cubed beef marinated with sliced onions, pepper, salt, and vinegar for two days. After the meat is skewered and grilled over charcoals.

Fish dishes

Salmon in walnut sauce is prepared by grinding walnuts and garlic into a paste. Placing them in a bowl and adding boiling water and mixing until smooth. A whole salmon is grilled and served with the sauce.

Poached fish with tomatoes is prepared by taking a fillet of sole or flounder cut into pieces, placed in a pan and covered by onion rings and herbs. Water, garlic cloves, allspice, and bay leaf are added and the fish is poached until done. While the fish is poaching the sauce is made with tomatoes, fried along with pepper, cayenne, garlic, and salt until thickened. When done the fish is served with the tomato sauce and garnished with dill or cilantro.

Salmon in vinegar sauce is prepared with a salmon fillet rubbed with pepper and crushed bay leaves and put aside for 30 minutes. A sauce is made with onions, vinegar, water, and salt and simmered for 15 minutes. The salmon is grilled and served with the sauce.

Beverages

Chacha is clear fruit homebrew and is also known as "vine vodka", "grape vodka" or "Georgian vodka". It is made with grape pomace which is the grape residue that is left after making wine. Chacha is also looked upon as a home remedy due to its medicinal properties and is known to cure various ailments.

Georgia is known to be one of the oldest wine-producing regions of Europe. Its grapes are harvested in the fertile valleys of the South Caucasus. Among the best-known wine-producing regions are Kakheti (further divided into micro-regions of Telavi and Kvareli), Kartli, Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, and Abkhazia.

Lagizde water is a popular soft drink that is based on soda and a variety of natural syrups, It comes bottle in a variety of flavors.

Borjomi is a resort town in south-central Georgia that is famous for its mineral water industry. Borjomi mineral water is the number one export of Georgia,