Georgian cuisine

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Georgian cuisine is very different from others, I think and that's why tourists love it, too. It is mainly characterized by hot and spicy dishes and their consistency is manly like soup. So, why is it unique? It is unique because of some of its ingredients, which are characterized to Caucasus Region, and they have a special preparation methods, too.

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Meat

To begin with, meat is very common in Georgia and the most of the dishes are made from different kinds of meat: pork, beef, poultry, lamb, etc. For instance, Kharcho is made from beef, Chakhokhbili can be made from chicken, turkey, lamb, rabbit, Satsivi is made from turkey or chicken, Chanakhi is made from lamb, Khinkali can be made from beef or beef and pork mixed together...

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Vegetables

There are certain vegetables, which Georgian cuisine uses mostly. They are potatoes, beans, cabbage, eggplant, tomatoes, beets, cucumber. From these vegetables there are various recipes and they even differ by the type of vegetable as vegetables are subtyped, too, as you know. For example, Lobio is a dish, which is made from beans and some spices and, especially, fresh coriander! Well, coriander gives everything such great taste and smell, that you'll want to use it in any dish.

Differences between East and West

There's also a difference between traditional Western and Eastern Georgian cuisine. And then there's mountainous Ajara and Svaneti and Pshavi cuisine... In short, every place here has its dish, that it's known for. Now that I'm writing about our cuisine, step by step I remember so many dishes that I know and I have tasted and some of them I know how to prepare and some of them are our, not everyday, but very popular ones. The main difference between Western and Eastern Georgia is, that people in west use Mchadi (bread made from corn flour) instead of bread and people in east are characterized by eating wheat bread. And I can say they eat it a lot! Well, basically, if a Georgian goes in a restaurant or somewhere like that, the first thing a waiter brings him is bread. And in most places you don't even have to tell them to bring bread, it's just natural that they should bring bread. It's just now that this 'habit' is being ignored. Because, of course, bread has its price and some people _ girls or women mostly, don't want to eat much bread and they don't order it because of its calories. There are different types of bread too. The two most common and popular ones are Lavashi and Shoti. Lavashi is roughlly round and Shoti has a shape of bow, if you ask me. Well, I just thought about it and decided that it resembles bow somehow, if you want to know the truth. Also, Western Georgians mostly use poultry, while Easterns use beef and pork. Western traditional dishes are also corn meal or a special meal from a special kind of millet _ Gherghili, cooked mush _ Ghomi, in which they add Sulguni (Suluguni) and it tastes like heaven. They also have Chvishtari _ this is Mchadi with cheese, but the flour and cheese are mixed together initially and then cooked. You can eat it hot or cold, it tastes delicious in both ways.

Cheese

There are more than a hundred types of cheese made in Georgia. But there are the four main ones, those are: Sulguni (Suluguni), Gouda, Imeretian Cheese, Karkhnuli. Personally, I like Gouda cheese. It's made from goat milk and traditionally it was made by mountain people and shepherds or their wives. My great grandparents used to make it when they had sheep up on a hill called Tsivi in summer. Cheese is kind of inevitable thing in Georgian cuisine, because of its taste and many other things, I guess. The traditional dish (Khachapuri) the one that is very popular amongst Georgians, is made with cheese filling. It was reported that 175,000 khachapuris were consumed during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Of course, there are many different types of Khachapuri, but the most popular ones are Imeruli Khachapuri and Ajaruli Khachapuri.

FIsh

Fish dishes are not as popular throughout Georgia as meat, but in the areas along rivers they are more popular, of course. Mountain trout (Mtis Kalmakhi) is exquisitely tasty and has no specific "fish" taste and is very delicious. Some well-known Georgian fish dishes are prepared kind of same as meat dishes: Catfish in Kindzmari, Satsivi of Fish, Bozartma of Salmon... Fish in Kindzmari is very delicious and I recommend everyone to taste it.

Herbs and spices

Georgian cuisine uses herbs and spices widely, they have a great significance in dishes. There are coriander, cilantro, tarragon, basil, mint, chives, black pepper, etc. Also, red spicy pepper is used in many main dishes.

Nuts

Nuts have a great importance, too. Georgian cuisine uses variety of nuts_ walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, but most of them you will see walnuts in many dishes. And there are walnut trees everywhere in Kakheti.

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Sauces

Matsoni is a well-known Georgian sour milk. It's a great thing! There is also Tkemali and Ajika _ these are sauces. Tkemali is thickened puree of plums or Tkemali and Ajika is made from red pepper and is really spicy. Bazhe is also a sauce widely used and very popular. It's basically made from water and ground walnuts and it tastes so good...

Georgians like open fire for cooking. There is a wide use of clay ovens in the form of a pitcher named Tone (mostly for baking pastry and Shoti and Lavashi bread).

Now, who can resist glorious Mtsvadi? This is very popular dish in Kakheti and in Georgia, as a whole, but, still, Kakhetians love Mtsvadi very much. This is nothing fancy, just a pork chopped into small pieces on sticks and put above the firebrand. It tastes so good, nothing can compare it. Of course, one should know which part of pig to chop for a good taste.

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