Tatara party

The introduction

Hello people, I hope that you are doing all fine!

Now I want to tell you about our Tatara party and preparing Churchkhelas. You know, they prepare juice for Tatara after Rtveli, when there’s this juice of grapes and stuff like that. Everyone loves Churchkhelas, if you want to know the truth, and many people love Tatara, too. Though it’s very nourishing and I usually can’t eat it much.

Churchkhelas are very delicious stuff and the preparation process is loved by children especially, because they love to dig those walnut stuff into Tatara and stuff like that, however, elders don’t really let them do that, because, first of all, that Tatara is pretty hot and children may get burned, and, secondly, they can’t really prepare Churchkhelas, so that no one wants to have those Churchkhelas prepared badly, so what children are left with is  just eating those stuff that is left from all this process or something like that, if you want to know the truth.

So, the idea of Tatara party was after Rtveli, because some of our friends couldn’t make it to Rtveli and they wanted to do something like that very much, so that we thought of Tatara party and planned a day and went to Kakheti, of course. Well, actually, I was already in Kakheti and waiting for the others to arrive. It was my aunt, who was there and who knew how to prepare Tatara, because I haven’t prepared it in my life, though I have watched it being prepared my whole life. It’s really hard to stir after some time, because it gets thicker and thicker and, especially, when you are preparing much Tatara, it’s very difficult to stir. So that you need to be pretty strong for that, and my aunt is really tough, if you want to know the truth. 

So, it needs something about 2 hours or so to prepare Tatara as I know, so that you can eat it. and we started preparing it until the others came, so that it would be halfway ready when they came. My aunt had also prepared some walnuts for Churchkhelas and it’s not an easy process either, if you want to know the truth, I mean, you should have those walnuts on each other and stuff like that, you practically are sewing them, so that Churchkhelas can have that special shape that they are supposed to have. Well, everything was kind of ready then. Though I had told my friends to come with some walnuts, so that they would prepare Churchkhelas themselves, because they hadn’t seen that process, I mean, they hadn’t seen neither preparing Tatara nor preparing Churchkhelas in their lives, so that they didn’t know what it was like. This way, they would see it and understand it and participate in it themselves, you know.

The preparation

Well, the preparation of Tatara in theory is pretty simple. You just need some  flour and the grapes juice, which is pre-modified, if you want to know the truth. They do it by boiling the juice for some time and stuff like that. So, when you pour it in  a saucepan and put it on the gas, then you stir in that flour and then you just stand there and stir and stir, until it’s all mixed well and gets thicker and has a great taste. Sometimes, when the grapes are not that sweet or ripen, they add some sugar, but , I guess, that practically never happens, because usually those grapes are pretty sweet and the juice comes out sweet, too, and, of course, Tatara is sweet, too, in that case. And so my aunt started preparing Tatara and it would be halfway ready when the others arrived. And they arrived some time later, of course, because they needed to gather together in one place and, you know, people don’t really gather together on a scheduled time. And we knew that, and then they needed some time for some things, I guess, and during this, our Tatara would be kind of ready, too.

You know, my aunt said, that she used something like 8 litres of juice, if I remember correctly, so that, imagine the whole that huge saucepan was filled with that juice and it needed the flour, too, and when she added that flour, it got thicker, and, of course, after some time it should have gotten thicker, as you may have already guessed, and, by the time that Tatara was ready, it would be so thick, that it would be very difficult to stir this mass. However, we could exchange roles and help with the stirring, you know. well, the stirring is necessary, so that the bottom won’t get burned and so that it won’t get stuck on the bottom, because if it gets burned, then the whole Tatara will have this burnt smell and taste and it won’t be any good, if you ask me.

There’s another thing, too, I mean, how to eat Tatara. Some people love it just hot and eat it as soon as it’s ready without anything else. Some people like eating it warm, of course, and some of them eat it when it’s all called and pretty solid. There’s this thing that people love, too, I mean, they add some walnuts on the Tatara and eat it like that. It’s like eating Churchkhelas, just without that typical shape of its. I really like that one, because it’s really delicious, if you ask me, besides, if you love Churchkhelas and , especially, if you love eating freshly made Churchkhelas, then you will love this type of Tatara, because it’s practically the same as eating those ones. The walnuts are great for decorating your Tatara dish, too, so that you can serve it like that and it’s very pretty and, at the same time, delicious, and your guests will be pretty amazed by it, if you want to know the truth. Though, I guess, it’s better if you pour Tatara into really small plates or whatever, because many people can’t eat much of Tatara because it’s so nourishing, as I’ve already mentioned above. Despite that, eating hot or kind of hot Tatara is easier, than the colder one. I don’t really know, why, but that’s the fact. Well, at least, that’s how it is for me. There’s also this other thing, that there’s  a difference for what you want to prepare Tatara. I mean, if you want to have just Tatara and eat it like that, then it can be not as thick as it’s needed for preparing Churchkhelas, because you need to make Tatara thicker to prepare some Churchkhelas, because if Tatara is not thick enough, it won’t stick to the walnuts as it’s supposed to, and some of it will  fall from it and stuff like that. So, you should consider that one, too, you know.

You should also pay attention to what kind of flour you are using, because sometimes, when the flour is not the right type, it could affect the Tatara, I mean, it could have the right amount of flour, however it can still not come out as it’s supposed to and it can be not that thick as you wished it could be. And then, there’s nothing you can do about it really. Or then maybe you will need to have it on the gas for some additional time for it to get thicker, I guess. Well, you should also know, that it should be on  a low heat even after it’s ready if you are preparing Churchkhelas, because once you turn the gas off, it gets colder pretty easily, and you need it to be hot for preparing Churchkhelas. And that preparation process is something really entertaining, if you ask me. They have these long sticks or something like that, where you should hang the Churchkhelas after you dig those walnut stuff into the Tatara and then take them out. It’s important those Churchkhelas not to be crashed anywhere, so that they will be pretty and not like damaged or something.

The arrival

Well, then came the time, when the guys arrived. They had all those stuff bought and things like that and I couldn’t really meet them properly, because my sister was calling to my brother and he gave his phone to me to talk to her and it was not the case to tell her to call us back some time later, so that I couldn’t really be on two places at the same time, so that I talked to my sister for some time and in the meantime, my brother would show the places around our friends.

So, I had told the girls to take some walnuts with them, too , so that I would show how Churchkhelas were made and they brought quite an amount of walnuts and I had these sewing things prepared for them , so that we would make some Churchkhelas. The thing is, first of all, they cut the right size of thread and then they thread a needle and thread walnuts one by one. You can thread walnut halves or quarters or even some smaller pieces, it all depends on how thick you want your Churchkhelas to be and how much walnut you want them to have, because some people like it when Churchkhelas have much walnuts and less Tatara, and some people like it vice versa, I mean, they love Tatara more, than the walnuts inside of it. so, I usually thread quarters of those walnuts and it’s like a half of the thread’s length, because you need some thread for holding the Churchkhelas when you take them out of Tatara and when it’s time to hang them on those sticks for them to get all dried and stuff. Well, you can even eat them after some time, you know, after they cool a little bit, because it’s really delicious, when they are fresh and soft and new. Eating them the next day is just perfect if you love moist, fresh Churchkhelas. You know, I ate some the next day, and they were just perfect. You would enjoy eating every one of them and wouldn’t even regret eating them, I guess. Well, they are very nourishing, if you want to know the truth, and, perhaps, you wouldn’t eat them all, because they were plenty, I mean, they were something like 30 or more, I guess, and I just ate two of them, and they were more than enough for me, if you want to know the truth, so that it’s really impossible eating all those Churchkhelas at once, I guess. However, this other day, my friend was telling me about her friend, who loves sweet things very much and that she had 10 or 20 Churchkhelas eaten at the same time in just some seconds. I can’t really believe that, however, it may be possible to eat so many Churchkhelas at once, because you can’t really understand when it’s enough when it comes to eating Churchkhelas, I think.

Anyways, I told the girls how to thread Churchkhelas and they were all doing it and that process was pretty fun, I guess. Though I couldn’t really enjoy that, because we went to another room, where my aunt was challenged by Tatara and one friend was really interested in making Tatara, so that we went there and she helped my aunt in stirring and stuff like that. It was pretty difficult to stir already, because it was kind of ready by that time and it was kind of thick, too. My aunt said, that it should have been thicker for Churchkhelas, however it was not that thick. Though, we would still be able to prepare those Churchkhelas. And it was just perfect for eating, because it’s easier to eat Tatara when it’s not very thick, of course, and when it’s thick, it’s very nourishing and you can’t really eat much of it, especially when it gets cold.

So, after some time, my aunt said, that Tatara was ready and it was time to make some Churchkhelas! We called the other girls, too, and they came in with those threaded walnuts in their hands and they had more than ten of them prepared and it was pretty cool, and my aunt had more than 20 prepared, I guess, so that we had a good amount of Churchkhelas and the process could begin. My aunt showed them how to dig those threaded walnuts into Tatara and how to take them out and then everyone tried that and they did a pretty good job, of course, so that everyone participated in the process and in the meantime, we were all taking pictures , so that we would have some photo memories and stuff like that. After taking Churchkhelas out, we would hang them on those long sticks and that process was pretty funny, because Tatara was not that thick and we should have been really careful, not to spill some Tatara from Churchkhelas and sometimes those Churchkhelas were very close to each other and they would stick on each other, however that didn’t happen very often. Well, it all was just great and then, after all the Churchkhelas were made, it was time to take the remaining Tatara to the plates and serve them. We were all ten or something like that and we needed ten plates with Tatara, however, there was much more of it, than just ten plates, of course. We took those plates to the table and got to eating, because everyone was hungry after all that time and process and stuff. We even had this contest of eating the whole Tatara on our plates, because it was really difficult to eat it till the end, as my aunt had plenty of Tatara put on every plate. However, because it was still hot and not very thick, some of us really didn’t leave any Tatara, though it was not that easy to do so. I guess, it was the first time that I ate so much Tatara at once. We even had some walnuts on the Tatara sprinkled, which made it taste even better, if you want to know the truth.

Preparing Mtsvadi

Well, after that we had some photoshoots in the yard and outside and some beautiful places and my brother said, that he would prepare some Mtsvadi, because everyone was really looking forward to eating his prepared Mtsvadi. He makes a perfect Mtsvadi, if you want to know the truth.

So, he had to go to the supermarket to buy some pork and some other things and he suggested that he could take some people with him and show them around in the meantime. So some of us got into the car and we took off. They looked around and talked and stuff like that. We went to this market, where some good meat is sold and we waited in the car while my brother was buying that pork.

When we went back, it was clear, that we forgot to buy some Shoti and then other half of the girls got into the car and they went to buy that bread,which is called Shoti and which is really delicious.

So, the fire was lit and we waited for it to get ready for preparing Mtsvadi and in the meantime, the pork should be cut into small pieces and get ready for frying. The process is pretty interesting and everyone was around that Makali (it is a device, where you put these shunts with pork and prepare Mtsvadi), though there was this smoke from the embers and things like that. However, soon the Mtsvadi was ready and we all went to the table and we had this wine and everything and we even had these cakes, which the girls had bought and they were plenty, if you want to know the truth. So, we had a great time and enjoyed everything there.

Until leaving, I suggested taking those Churchkhelas with them, however, it was decided, that since they were fresh and still moist and stuff like that, it would be wiser to leave them there and have them dried as it’s supposed to, and then, after all the drying and stuff, they would take them. Well, it was not a bad idea, after all. So that, I saw them off and I stayed there as it was Sunday the next day and I was free and I didn’t have any work to do or something like that and I would enjoy myself being there in my house.

Photo gallery