Buying dairy products

The introduction

I want to tell you about dairy products in Georgia and where you can buy some of them except for the supermarkets.

You know, there are companies who prepare products for the supermarkets and some people don’t want to buy them and they prefer those stuff from people who prepare them at home. Everyone was used to that and my grandmother used to prepare matsoni at home, too. My aunt prepares great cheese at home, so that it’s not a surprise to have something homemade sold to people around. Maybe some people don’t go out and sit in the streets and sell some of their dairy products, however, people know, that they prepare that stuff at home and they can get to their houses and buy some dairy products there.

To be honest, I haven’t seen people selling yoghurt in such places, however, they have almost all the dairy products, that can be prepared at home, and if you know, that they prepare those things with natural milk and related products that, you become their client, because there is not much natural things these days and no one really prepares matsoni or whatever with natural milk, if you ask me.

People who sell dairy products

There are people going door to door selling dairy products, such as matsoni and milk, mostly. I didn’t really know about that until just recently, when there was a woman coming to my aunt’s apartment and my aunt used to buy matsoni from her and I wondered, how could that be possible.

However, then I realized that it was a great method of buying things that you need without bothering to go to the supermarket. Besides, that matsoni was not more expensive, than the ones on the supermarket, so that this was a great option for people living in those apartments. If they needed some matsoni, they knew when this woman would come and they were prepared and they waited for her to buy it.

Then, when I moved to another apartment, there used to be such people, too. There were some different people coming near the building, shouting “matsoni” or other things they had with them to sell. People would go downstairs and buy those products and were very glad about it.

In fact, there were not just people who sold dairy products but there were others too, selling herbs, potatoes, sponge cakes, cookies and some related things, so that there was much variety of products that you could buy without going out from your apartment, if you want to know the truth. If they came early in the morning, then it was pretty horrible, because it’s really bad, when you are still sleeping and someone is shouting “matsoni” or “cookies” or whatever. And they are shouting like an alarm-clock and for quite some time and you just can not ignore it and sooner or later you have to wake up and then, after some time, they go away and you stay like that, woken up by someone, you don’t even know, when you could still sleep for quite some time with much pleasure, of course.

Anyways, you should not be surprised, if you are in Tbilisi and suddenly there is some shouting in the morning and you hear, that someone is selling matsoni or milk or things like that. And you should definitely try matsoni if you haven’t tried it yet, because it’s a great thing for everything and I like it very much. And that homemade matsoni costs just 1 lari, when all those other supermarket matsonis cost more than 1 lari up to 2 laris, so that, keep that in mind!

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Dairy products sold in different places

So, there are some different places, where there are dairy products sold and those places are becoming more and more popular these days and they are being developed into a higher standard shops, rather than just some places, where there weren’t even some good refrigerators, so that that’s why people started buying dairy products there.

I just found out about one of those shops nearby delisi metro station, where there’s this small thing, where they hhave some cheese and cottage-cheese and milk and stuff like that and the prices are pretty reasonable and it’s quite easy to buy things there.

Another place, that I know about is nearby Varketili metro station, where there’s this small shop, and they have lots of things there and I usually buy matsoni there, because they have matsoni in a plastic thing and not in a glass can and you don’t need to go there with your own glass can to buy matsoni. It’s an exchange of those glass cans _ you take one matsoni with its glass can and instead, you are leaving your empty glass can there, because otherwise, you would need to pay for the glass can, too, and, besides, the sellers need the glass cans and they can not go to the markets to buy those glass cans every time they run out of them. They also have different types of cheese and cottage-cheese and nadughi and sour-cream and milk and, well, I’m pretty satisfied with their services. And you should know, that milk costs 2 laris a litre, usually. And the cottage cheese costs 5 or 6 laris.

Well, usually, you could buy these homemade dairy products in the bazaars in Georgia and everyone knew that, there are these whole shelves full of cheese mostly and some other things, too, for example, nadughi and cottage cheese and the people there usually have their clients and they go there to buy those products and everyone knows each other there. It’s like, if you know the seller, that’s just great for you, because that way you can get better products, than the other people around. It’s like a law or something, because that seller tries to give you a good product, so that you won’t stay unsatisfied and come back again.

And, besides, it’s the seller’s shame, if he or she sells her or his friend or acquaintance a bad product, because then she or he knows, that this buyer can tell other people around, that the product was not good. To be honest, those kinds of things happen and that’s why I know about that, I guess, because I usually didn’t think, that some things like that could have been possible in any way. Well, everyone tries to earn more money and they do all the things, that they can think of to do so. So that, they use cheaper things in their products and, well, nowadays, you can’t even find the natural milk from cows. Most of those people just use powder milk to prepare dairy products and it’s pretty cheap and then they sell those products as it was natural and so that they cost more, than they would cost, of course. So, beware of that fact and don’t think, that everything you buy is all natural and stuff, because it’s not and you are wrong to think like that. However, every seller just swears to you, that everything they have is natural, if you want to know the truth.

Anyways, going to bazaars, you can always find plenty of dairy products there, however, most of them are cheeses and there are different types of cheese, however, there are some of those types, which are very popular and, therefore, they are mostly presented on those shelves in bazaars, and they are sulguni cheese, imeruli cheese, sheep cheese and cow milk cheese _ that’s how they call it in Georgia and I especially love sheep cheese if it’s good and not very salty and if it’s soft. It’s very delicious, especially if you have a hot Shoti bread and maybe even some butter to spread on that shoti bread. It’s just something unforgettable and if you ever try it, then you won’t forget the taste and you will want to have it another time, too. You know, there are people, who tell me, that they hate sheep and the smell they have and the taste of the meat and everything. and they won’t eat anything made from its meat or milk or whatever. However, personally I have seen how they ate plenty of that sheep meat and that sheep milk cheese and they just loved it. You know, it all depends on how you prepare things, I guess, and if it’s very good and delicious, everyone can eat it, of course.

Anyways, what I’m saying is, that you can buy some good cheese in the supermarkets, too, however, you shouldn’t forget, that you can buy them in the bazaars in Georgia, or in those small shops, where they sell some good dairy products. It’s better if you buy cheese in such places, because, for example, when you buy cheese in the bazaar, you are free to taste any cheese you like and decide, whether it is the one you want or not. However, there’s this problem in bazaars, that there are many people selling dairy products together and when they see you, they start shouting at you, so that you will get their attention and go to someone to buy their cheese and it’s really confusing most of the times, if you don’t really know anyone there. And you might end up with someone, that practically forces you to buy her cheese and when you get home, you realize, that it was not that cheese, that you wanted to buy. And then you just get disappointed and angry, I guess, and you just feel used. There’s mostly kind of funny situation in the bazaars, when everybody starts shouting when they see some buyers and once, when I wanted to buy some nadughi, they all started shouting and I couldn’t understand where to go and what to do, it’s like bombing your head and you can not think through, if you want to know the truth. And that’s why it’s better to buy these stuff in such small dairy products’ shops, where no one is shouting at you and you can peacefully decide, what you want to buy and which one of those things you want to buy and you can first look at all the products there and then decide, whether you want to buy anything in that shop or not and no one will be mad at you there.

So that, if you want to buy some dairy products, which are kind of homemade and may be even natural, you can buy them in the bazaars, or you can find those dairy products’ shops and buy them there and it’s better to buy some matsoni or cottage cheese or cheese or nadughi in those shops. And, besides, you can’t find nadughi in the supermarkets and you will have to buy it in such places. I don’t really know, how nadughi is in English, because I have never seen it in any other places, however, I guess, it will be known with a different name. and if it’s not, you might want to taste it in Georgia, because it’s very delicious, when they prepare it with some peppermint and salt and it’s like a sauce and it’s very good with many things, especially Ghomi and Mchadi and things like that. You can even eat it without anything, it’s that delicious that way.

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