…was the highlight for my parents and our great german friends when visiting the Kakheti region once again, this time to experience a cooking masterclass of georgian cuisine presented by the gorgeous Ms. Daduna Ghlonti, an amazing lady from Guria. An evening of cooking, laughing, eating and tasting wine (adults only)… real khinkali this time. Georgian cuisine is rather simple, using herbs so tastefull and “ …if there is one word to describe Georgia and its flavours it would be…. walnuts“ added our chef Dadu. And as we prepared several dishes, there were many toasts to the wallnuts…and cilantro (coriander) as these are the grounds of the local cuisine. For this reason you either love the georgian dishes or you simply opt for others. We love it.
You need to follow your dreams…. Dadu studied the Art of design in Italy, got a degree and a very decent job once returning to Georgia, but the dream was to cook. She gave up her job, started as an assistant in a restaurant and because she is Gurian, she endlessly worked, travelled to France and Spain to learn from the master chefs and, voila, now serves as a supervising chef in a number of famous restaurants in Tbilisi. Her passion for food and cooking is breathtaking, and she can talk hours on why you cannot use an electric blender for the herbs😊
I loved to listen to her describing the project of talking to „grandmas“ from different regions of Georgia to collect the old and nearly forgotten recipes to bring them back to life, using her design background and adjusting them to meet the current culinary standards. No doubt she is the right person to present local cuisine worldwide, Dadu the Ambassador of georgian flavours! And she was about to teach us the basics of the local cuisine Phali, khinkhali and georgian pesto…with walnuts😊…my parents grab the glasses again!
But back to the cooking table, we followed the recipes of the Tusheti region, which the mountain people have been cooking for centuries. As from the mountain region, the ingredients are simple – potatoes, cheese, beens, herbs, garlic etc. Yes, we made meat khinkali as well of course.
Khinkali, apart from sashliks (BBQ) are one of the most recognised dishes in any part of the country. Basically, stuffed dow dumplings, cooked in salt water. The filling is usually meat with herbs, but it can also be potatoes or mushrooms. So once cooked you grab it by your fingers and your fingers only by the top, slowly bite, enjoy the juice and then you eat the rest, leaving the top on the plate. One says you do not eat the tops as you need to demonstrate to your host how many you have eaten. The other version says as always Khinkali has been grabbed by fingers, village people and shepherds did not have a chance to wash their hands properly.
Until that evening we have not considered khinkali as something that special though we have tasted them in many places. Dadu has changed our opinion completely. We prepared the meat ones (mix of pork and beef) and potatoes with sulguni and megrelian cheese. The magic herbs. So basic, so tasteful! I need to say that the shape the pieces we prepared in were far from what you get in restaurants (little dow bombs) but the taste was heaven!
The same would apply to phali – green chopped salads the locals prepare from various green leaves – could be spinach, beetroots, accompanied by Kahketian sunflower oil, garlic, dry cilantro and walnuts. But “do not use a blender, please!” Dadu repeated. Here comes one challenge we need to solve – the best flavours you get from the herbs if using stone to crush them. And it should be river stone aswell. We’ll need to search for one soon if we want to taste the delicious phali again.
One more toast, this time to the new year of 2024. I am wishing you all the best this year and stay heatlhy and tuned in for more of these amazing Georgian adventures!
