Georgian cuisine is dominated by a love for non-vegetarian food, but in it shines in equal vigour some great vegetarian dishes. Georgia is a food haven for all alike.
Winning all races, by miles, is their most popular dish, Khachapuri, delectable cheesy goodness on a plate. Concisely, it is bread with a filling of cheese, egg and sometimes potatoes. Best shared among two, it is easy available just anywhere throughout Georgia and comes in several variants of shapes and sizes. The Imeruli khachapuri is circular and the most popular.
The open-boat shaped acharuli/adjaruli is filled with cheese in the centre, topped with an egg and generously slashed with butter before serving.
Another popular delicacy is the Kinkhali, the Georgian dumpling popularly filled with pork. beef. mushrooms and mashed potatoes.
Churchkhela is another popular street-food snack in which varieties of nuts, namely walnuts, are covered in a mixture of grape juice extract and flour and dried in the sun. It is a common sight to see them being hung on strings on the road sides on your way from Tbilisi to the interiors. They are colourful, vibrant and enough to ward off hunger for quite sometime.
“Old Sighnaghi”, a beautiful outdoor restaurant with an incredible view of the mountains in Signaghi, introduced us to more vegetarian dishes, all served in ketsi, a traditional serving plate made of clay.
Our three-day stay in Tbilisi and the day tours to the surrounding towns gave us just enough opportunity to taste the local delicacies, but not enough to dwell into it further to understand the nuances of it. If you intend to pay a visit to Georgia, make sure you try at least these popular dishes, if not more.
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