What to eat?

What to Eat

 

"Food connects people." This saying is nowhere as true as here in Georgia. In Georgia and the whole Caucasus, connections are very important, and those important connections are made exactly at the table. Good food speaks about the reputation of the family and the family’s respect for their guests. This is one reason, but there are other reasons why Georgian cuisine is so delicious. Georgian food differs from region to region. For example, the region of Kartli has a different cuisine from the region of Samegrelo, and so on. Samegrelo is famous for its spicy and cheesy dishes, which you cannot find in other parts of the country. Kuchmachi, Elarji, Ghomi, and many others are the valued dishes contributed to Georgian cuisine by Mengrelians. Even the famous cheese pie, Khachapuri, has different versions in different parts of the country. There are Adjarian, Mengrelian, and Imeretian Khachapuri. In the mountains of Georgia, locals like to make Khinkali, the famous Georgian dumplings that have become extremely popular in the whole country. In Tbilisi, there are restaurant chains that specialize in dumplings, and accordingly, they are named "Sakhinkle," place of dumplings, or "Khinklis Sakhli," house of dumplings. Dumplings made out of chocolate are a new trend in Tbilisi.

 

As we can see here, Georgian cuisine is rich, and everyone can find dishes to suit his or her taste in Georgian cuisine. There are lots of dishes for meat and cheese lovers here; however, we also have dishes for vegetarians and vegans. There are new cafés as well that specialize in creating vegetarian versions of Georgian traditional dishes, like Café Leila, which has a vegetarian version of the famous meat dish Chaqapuli, and so on; however, this is not the only café that has vegetarian options. In traditional Georgian cuisine, we have dishes made of cheese, bread, spinach, eggplant, and vegetables. Our famous eggplant with walnut sauce is a vegan dish; Georgian salad and spinach dishes are vegan. Famous Khachapuri is vegetarian, so there are dishes for each taste. Desserts, however, can be more difficult to find because traditional Georgian desserts are usually made for different occasions and not for each meal. The most famous dessert is Gozinaki, which is basically walnuts fried in honey; however, it is always made on New Year’s Eve.