Georgia is a country rich in its history, culture, and cuisine.

There is so much to do around Tblisi with the variety of restaurants, pubs, and clubs. Most restaurants have entertainment in the form of traditional Georgian folklore dancing and singing and can go through the night. Wine is a favorite drink and the industry is one of the oldest in the world going back 8,000 years.

Around every corner you will find pastry shops making “Khachapuri” which is a delicious bread filled with cheese, beans, or rice and veggies. You can also find the famous Acharuli Khachapuri which consists of cheese and a slightly cooked egg cracked on top. So rich and delicious.

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Preparing delicious Georgian pastries

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Cheese oozing out of the Khachapuri

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Acharuli Kachapuri just out of the oven

Apart from street food, restaurants are filled with traditional meals that include a variety of appetizers made up of eggplant, spinach, and cauliflower. Walnut is an important ingredient in Georgian cuisine and is used in many dishes. It is also used to make the famous “Walnut Sauce”.

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Delicious cauliflower in walnut sauce

Main dishes include various grilled meat (veal, chicken, pork). The “Kababi” stood out the most which is a thick kabab wrapped in a thin bread with a tomatillo sauce on the side.

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Kababi roll found in most restaurants around Tblisi

A famous sweet snack that you will find around every corner is Churchkhela which is sausage shaped and made of nuts lined up on a string and dipped in grape juice and hung. It is also known as the “Georgian Snickers”!

And of course, lots of wine!

Quick recipe: Acharuli Khachapuri

Whenever I come back from one of my adventures, I like to recreate some of the dishes that stood out during my trip. Here’s the recipe for one of my favorite in the Georgia trip, the Egg Khachapuri. You can see that my attempt is not as visually appealing as the ones there, but it definitely tasted amazing. Enjoy!

Note:This recipe makes about 2 medium sized khachapuris

Ingredients:

For Dough:

3 cups of all purpose flour

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 teaspoon yeast

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup of water

0.5 cup of warm milk

Pinch of salt

For filling:

4 eggs

1,200 grams Sulguni cheese (this is the traditional Georgian cheese, if this cannot be found you can replace with mozzarella or akkawi cheese)

2 knobs of butter

Preparation:

1. Mix all wet ingredients together with the yeast. Set aside for 15 minutes

2. Mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients and knead dough. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.

3. When dough rises, grease your hands with oil and knead the dough again, it gets oxidized and becomes softer

4. Divide the dough into 2 balls and roll out each ball in an oval shape

5. Place some cheese on the edges of the rolled out dough and turn up the edges from all sides. Make sure to crimp the edges, this gives it the boat shape

6. Place the rest of the cheese in the middle of the dough and bake it in a 200C oven until slightly browned

7. Take the Kachapuris out and crack 2 eggs in each. If you are okay with raw eggs, you can place a knob of butter on each and enjoy

If you prefer the egg to be slightly cooked, place it back in the oven for another minute or 2 and then place the knob of butter.

Enjoy!