Georgia: A Destination for Food and Wine Lovers
It’s not surprising that Georgia in Western Asia, on one of the boundaries with Eastern Europe and with the Middle East not far to the south, is an interesting country for travellers to sample local foods and drinks. In fact, it’s fast becoming a recognised destination for foodies.
Georgian food is among some of the most underrated cuisines in the world. Known as Kartvelian cuisine, it takes inspiration from its Slavic, Turkish, and Persian neighbours and adds its own hearty twist.
With many ingredients coming from local markets and being prepared in the traditional ways, you can expect to get a true taste of Georgia whenever you sit down to feast. The practice of a Georgian supra, or family-style spread, is a hallowed affair where the food seemingly never ends and your cup always runneth over.
Eating Georgian is an experience on its own and is seldom enjoyed solo. Dishes are made for sharing and these hearty and dense indulgences are begging to be savoured in good company.
Georgian breads and cheeses are served with home-made wine. Image: © Yulia Grigoryeva
As if the promise of dough, cheese, and meat isn’t enough yet, all of this comes with a healthy helping of wine. The country boasts one of the oldest wine-making cultures in the world, dating back millennia. Eight thousand years be exact.
To save you from being overwhelmed when sitting down for your first Georgian feast, we’ve prepared this Georgian food and wine guide to help you to know your khinkali from your khachapuri and enjoy this mouth-watering experience to the fullest.
Georgian Bread (Puri)
Walk down any Georgian street and you are bound to see someone walking with a stack of boat-shaped bread under their arm. Bread is the Georgian people’s starch of choice with each region taking great pride in its own variation of this glutinous staple.
Puri simply means “bread” in Georgian but plain bread has never tasted so good. The key is the deep circular clay oven that the bread is baked in. Dough is slapped to the side of the piping hot oven, like a tandoor, and served standard with every meal. Its odd canoe shape is iconic and its soft airy texture makes it perfect for breaking apart and sharing around the table.
Khachapuri
What is better than bread? Bread with cheese of course! Khachapuri comes in a variety of combinations based on the region of origin and derives its name from khacho, which are cheese curds.
The central region of Imereti has created the stock standard imeruli khachapuri. But there is nothing ordinary about this gooey offering. A round piece of dough is filled to the brim with deliciously soft imeruli cheese that oozes out of every corner. The Megruli khachapuri doubles up on cheese and bakes more cheese on top of the already melty bread.
The traditional boat-shaped Adjaruli khachapuri. Image: Anastazy Kuznetsova
Adjaruli khachapuri might be the most famous of the three, gaining popularity on social media thanks to its picture-perfect appearance. The boat-shaped bread comes from the Black Sea region of Adjaria and is every bit as indulgent as you might think. A pool of suluguni and imeruli curds becomes a nest for a golden yolk surrounded by a healthy dollop of butter that spills over the edges. This boat is a one-way trip to food heaven.
If the promise of cheese and butter seems a tad over the top, you can always opt for other stuffed bread like lobiani (beans), kubdari (meat), or chinchari (nettles).
Khinkali
The pride and joy of Georgian cuisine is but a humble dumpling. Portion sizes are usually set to a minimum of five, but feel free to order a mountain-sized helping as they are inexpensive and incredibly addictive.
A round dough is folded around a meatball and then steamed or boiled. Once the piping hot khinkali arrives at your table, be sure to follow the proper etiquette, that is no cutlery!
Khinkali are meat dumplings but there are vegetarian options. Image: Photopat
Lightly dust the dumpling with black pepper and grab it by the folded knob at the top. Bite a small hole in the side and suck out the delicious broth before tucking into the meaty centre.
There are vegetarian options too that include mushroom, potato, or cheese stuffed khinkali. Be warned, these dumplings feature generous amounts of cilantro/coriander so be sure to ask for “without greens” if you don’t have a taste for this bold herb.
Meat Dishes
Georgians take great pride in their barbequed meat with some cuts being marinated for days in family recipe marinades. Mtsvadi is the most common form of meat and consists of cubes of pork or chicken skewered and cooked to perfection on an open fire.
Ojakhuri literally translates to “family meal” so you should know you will always get a special family recipe when ordering. The concept is basic, roasted meat and potatoes. But the execution is much more complex. Toppings could include pickled veggies, onions, pomegranate, or herbs and will be served with a side of sauce.
Chkmeruli is another dish for those who aren’t scared of rich dishes. A whole chicken is fried in butter and then cooked in a garlic and cream sauce. This is where the mountain of Georgian bread comes in handy to soak up the mouth-watering sauce.
Chakhokhbili is a delicious chicken and tomato stew. Image: © Magrig
One of the many seasonal dishes is Chakapuli, a stew that is usually made with lamb and sometimes beef. This stew has an exotic combination of unripe sour plums, tarragon, white wine, green peppers, and herbs and is usually eaten around Orthodox Easter.
Tomatoes make up a big part of Georgian food and are regularly used as the base for scrumptious stews. Chakhokhbili is a chicken and tomato stew with bell peppers, onions, vinegar, garlic, and an assortment of herbs and spices. Ostri is a similar stew made from tender beef with lots of onions, tomatoes, and garlic.
This is only a fraction of the insanely flavourful meat dishes on offer in Georgia. Chicken soup, kebabs, stews, and roasts come in all forms and you will be hard-pressed to find a meat dish that doesn’t blow you away.
Vegetable Dishes
Georgia has an incredibly rich farming culture but due to its cold winters, fruit and veggies are limited during colder months. Much of the fresh produce is pickled for when vegetables are in short supply, but there are a few staples that are available year-round. Mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, and potatoes form the backbone of most Georgian dishes.
Whether you like your potatoes, fried, roasted, or mashed, there is a potato dish to suit your pallet. Most menus feature “Mexican style potatoes” which are roasted wedges with a special spice mix. For something even more delectable, try tashmijabi, which is mashed potatoes mixed with brined cheese to create a salty, stretchy side dish.
Salads and vegetable dishes are an important component of Georgian cuisine. Image: © Ratov Maxim
Cooking in clay pots is a popular tradition in a Georgian kitchen. Mushrooms in a clay pot (soko kecze) is one such dish that makes for a perfect appetizer. White button mushrooms are stuffed with traditional sulguni cheese and baked in an oven until perfectly melty.
Ajapsandali is an unmissable stew for veggie lovers, combining eggplant, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, and a variety of herbs. Badrijani is an equally tasty eggplant interpretation where slivers of eggplant are covered in walnut paste and rolled up and commonly topped with pomegranate seeds.
When it comes to salads, there is just one salad that matters in Georgia. This salad is so profound in fact that it is colloquially called “Georgian Salad”. Chunks of cucumber and tomato (and sometimes onion) are smothered in walnut sauce and coriander. If you order the salad without walnuts, it is drenched in vinegar and cold-pressed sunflower oil dressing for an equally refreshing side.
Sweet Treats
During the winter, fruit becomes increasingly scarce in Georgia. An easy fix for this shortage is the popular “fruit leather”, or tklapi. Fruit puree is spread out in a thin round shape and left in the sun to dry. It can be eaten on its own or even rehydrated as part of a soup or stew. Common fruits used to make these colorful sheets are sour plums, apples, figs, and mulberries.
Unusual-looking churchkhelas are a traditional Caucasian sweet. Image: Julia Volk
Churchkhela, also called “Georgian Snickers”, is a traditional Caucasian sweet. A string of walnuts is dipped in a thick grape juice concentrate and creates what can only be described as a lumpy candle. Other versions use hazelnuts instead or add dried fruit in between for a tasty variation. Darker versions are made from Saperavi grapes, red ones are made from pomegranate juice, and light brown ones are made from white grape juices.
Wines & Spirits
Georgians take their wine culture very seriously and nearly every home will offer you a glass or five of their homemade specialty. The traditional way of winemaking in Georgia is unique to the region and offers a distinct flavour, far removed from wooded styles that you might be used to.
Georgian wine is typically made in a Qvevri, a massive clay vessel that is buried underground that adds a distinct minerality to the wines. This method of winemaking is not scalable and is mostly practiced by small family-owned wineries as there is a lot of labour and risk involved. The wine is fermented on the skins along with seeds and stems which is said to add numerous health benefits to the wine. This is also the most natural way of making wine with a distinct lack of chemicals and sulfates.
Georgia has around 500 endemic grape varieties but many of the same grapes are used in wine production. Elevation and regional soils play a huge part in establishing the characteristics of each wine and the same grape can deliver multiple wine styles depending on where the grapes come from.
Qvevri are large traditional clay vessels used for making wine. Image: Svetlbel
Get experimental and simply ask for dry, semi-sweet, or sweet wine at a restaurant to blindly try wines from all over. Or visit one of the many wine bars and tasting rooms in Tbilisi to get an expert look into this massive industry.
Saperavi is one of the most popular red wines and can be aged for up to 50 years. This wine is dry with a good balance of earthy and fruity notes. It also has a high alcohol content and agreeable acidity levels. Mukuzani is also made from the same grapes but only the highest quality grapes make it into these bottles. There are also very specific yeast strains used in the process where wine is aged in oak barrels for 3 years giving it a high level of complexity and flavour.
Kindzmarauli is a favorite all-round wine with semi-sweet characteristics. It has a dark red colour and rich aromas with an easy-to-drink velvety taste. Even though it is also made from Saperavi grapes, it has a distinct sweetness due to the elevation the grapes are grown at. Pirosmani is another popular semi-sweet wine, but it is fermented in the Qvevri and these grapes are grown in the Alazani Valley as opposed to the Kakheti region like most Saperavi grapes.
White wine in Georgia is where the Qvevri style of winemaking truly shines. Adding white grapes to these earthenware pots along with their skins and stems drastically changes the characteristics of the wine. So much so that it has created a whole sub-category of wine namely Amber. These wines resemble liquid gold and can even be a dark orange colour.
Many visitors to Georgia spend their time wine-tasting. Image: Svetlbel
Rkatsiteli is the most widely used white grape varietal and is used for wine, sparkling wine, and brandy thanks to its diverse nature. These wines have a perfect balance of crispness and fruitiness making them easy-drinking and can be both sweet and dry, depending on your preference.
Tsinandali is another wildly popular wine that is a blend of Rkatsiteli and Mtsvane. A classic white will be dry with citrus and stone fruit aromas, but the Qvevri version has a deeper apricot scent. Similarly, Kisi also blends these two grapes and is most commonly fermented in a Qvevri.
Don’t be surprised if you are offered a swig of chacha on your taxi ride from the airport as this clear brandy is a local staple. This strong, traditionally clear liquor is made from grape pomace, a residue left from wine production. It has an incredibly high alcohol content that ranges from 40 percent for commercially produced products to 65 percent for a homebrew.
Chacha making has also come a long way and has become Georgia’s own craft liquor. Oak-aged chacha is popular for a more refined pallet and fruity versions including lemon and watermelon have popped up as less harsh versions.
Fruity versions of home-made chacha on sale in a market. Image: © Venera Koiava
Locals swear by chacha for a range of ailments too. Nasty cough you can’t cure? Chacha! Upset stomach? Chacha for sure. Broken leg? Well, Chacha won’t cure that but it surely will help you forget about the pain.
This guide only touches the tip of Georgia’s extensive food and wine culture which is still heavily underappreciated the world over. Don’t be afraid to try new and exciting dishes when traveling around Georgia as there are no limits to what people have accomplished with a few simple ingredients. Just be prepared to add an extra belt hole after your trip.
Header image: © Chubykin Arkady
