Georgia(Sakartvelo) thru eyes of a Foodie

Dear Friends,

I’m back from my 12 day vacation in Georgia. We had good time in Georgia, it’s a beautiful country with lots to offer. This vacation was a bit different from the vacations we have taken in last 4 years, different in both good and bad way.  However, I would like to talk about the good things and use proper forums to review facilities and services which didn’t meet my expectations.

Some of you may know I started this blog to record memories of my travels but then life happened. With the onset of fancy travel blogs and accounts on Instagram in recent times, I was a bit intimated that no one will like my plain writing and simple mobile phone pictures. However, I have realised that one should do things which make one happy without thinking about the reaction of audience on social media. With that in mind, I’m going to talk to you about another hobby/passion of mine -Food.

I became interested in different types of Indian cuisine when I moved to Western part of India for my first job. My room mates hailed from different states and cooked food which I had never eaten before. The interest grew when I met my then future husband and I wanted to cook for him . Since then I have expanded my horizon and now I can cook recipes from following cuisines- Indian (which is collection of 50 different cuisines), Turkish, Italian, Mexican, Arabic and English.

During these years I have discovered that a hobby isn’t about doing only one thing, there is so much more you learn thru a hobby- about cultures, history . For example, thru my hobby of cross stitching, I have learnt about festivals and holidays in western world, learnt names of new flowers, fruits etc.  

During my travels , I have seen that food brings people together. I have seen people connecting and bonding over food. Each year when I plan to travel to a new destination, I study about the cuisine of the country. The focus is to eat local (vegetarian) food, understand what ingredients are used and why. We avoid eating Indian food or at fast food chains when travelling.

Through this post I will narrate my journey in Georgia thru food.

The first thing which shows in google search when you look up Georgian food is Khachapuri. It is a staple food of Georgians, available in homes, restaurants and road side stalls.

Khachapuri – to describe simply is stuffed bread. Wheat dough is rolled into rounds, stuffed and then baked in ovens. The stuffing varies from cheese, red beans, potatoes, spinach (tarragon actually) to red meat.  The most famous among tourist is Adjarian Khachapuri , which is like Turkish pide but with semi cooked eggs, cheese and salted butter. This Khachapuri hails from the coastal region of Georgia and the shape represent a boat. I liked it the most from the various Khachapuri I ate.

ACHARULI – AJARIAN KHACHAPURI

Picture from our dinner at Puri Guliani , Funicular, Tbilisi

Megruli Khachapuri
Picture from our lunch at Bermuxa, Zugdidi

Kinkali – it is Georgian dumpling stuffed with cheese , potatoes or meat. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to taste this as most of the places I asked for it had only non-vegetarian version.

Image from Internet

I always make a list of vegetarian food available in the new country I travel to. It is important to know the local name of the dishes when travelling to non- English speaking countries.

My travel guide in Georgia was surprised when I showed him the list of food I wanted to eat during our tour.

This time it was a bit of struggle to get vegetarian food when I said I didn’t want to eat Khachapuri anymore. If you ask for vegetarian food in Georgia, you are suggested to order Khachapuri , if you say no, most of the times they serve you potatoes , mushrooms or salad.

Georgia has a rich fertile soil and most of the things are grown naturally with no pesticides or fertilisers. So if you are like me, thinking I didn’t travel to 2000 miles to eat potatoes, think again. I ate stir fried potato chips almost once in a day during my trip but I must tell you the potatoes with just a pinch of salt were mind blowing. I stopped eating potatoes in 2017 due to health reasons but it was hard to resist the stir fried potato chips in Georgia.

Georgia has wide variety of mushrooms which they use a lot in cooking. The variety of dishes they make with mushrooms is very interesting.

Pan baked Mushroom with almost no spice.
Picture from our lunch at KP  Tavern, Tbilisi

Mchadi – This is traditional corn bread of Georgia. When I first ate it, I was surprised that it tasted so much like Makka ki roti –India flat bread made from Maize.

I ate variations of corn bread, each beating other in flavor. I even ate corn on the cob from a road side stall ..ha ha

Dobali
Picture from our dinner at Ethno Tsiskvili, Tbilisi

Mushroom Kuchmachi & Chvishtari(cheese corn bread)
Picture from our lunch at Cafe Ushguli Maspindzeli , Ushguli
A must visit home establishment where everything is made to order and you can actually  participate in cooking.

Lobiani served with Mchadi and pickled veggies
Picture from our lunch at KP  Tavern, Tbilisi

Lobiani- its name of food made from red/kidney beans. Most of the time it is served with Mchadi and pickled veggies. Do you know Lobia is Hindi name for black eyed peas?

Now coming to less popular vegetarian food…these were served when I dug deep and asked the chef what else they can serve except the above listed.

Badrijani Nigvzit - Georgian Eggplant Rolls with Walnut-Garlic Filling. Very interesting recipe, never imagined using nuts with eggplant.

Badrijani Nigvzit
Picture from our dinner at Kidobani, Tbilisi

Jonjoli is one of the Georgian appetisers. In particular, these are pickled sprouts from a bush that grows in the area. Jonjoli is consumed in various ways, sometimes it’s mixed with olive oil or with other pickled vegetables such as cucumber, pepper or tomatoes. The appetiser goes well with Lobio, Georgian bean soup as well as with boiled potatoes or simply with Georgian corn bread mchadi together with cheese.

Jonjoli
Picture from our dinner at Ethno Tsiskvili, Tbilisi

Green Salad- with its fresh veggies, the salad with cucumber, onion and tomatoes in Georgia are class apart. If you happen to be in Tbilisi, do try Green salad in Summer Menu of Barberstan. This restaurant is one of the highest rated in Georgia but apart from the salad , we were disappointed with the availability of veg food.

Most amazing Green salad at Barberstan

Vegetarian soup- I was lucky to stay in home stays during my trip and the owner made vegetarian soup for me. This soup is quite different from the traditional soups I’m used to eating. Traditional soups are made of boiled veggies or lentil which are pureed and then cooked with spices. Georgian veg soup was more like a stew- big chunks of veggies cooked in water with sauteed onions.

Tolma- Very similar to Turkish Dolma /stuffed vegetables. Mine was stuffed with cooked rice and served with sour cream.

Made to order Tolma at Ushba Guest house, Mestia

Nazuki is Georgian spicy sweet bread. This scrumptious treat is made in different parts of Georgia , but nazuki from Surmai , a small town in Shida Kartli Region, stands out with its exceptional taste. Every Georgian and tourist alike who passes beautiful Surmai road is unable to resist a good loaf of homemade sweet bread exhibited by the locals in front of their homes.

Image from Internet

Churchkhela is a traditional Georgian candle-shaped candy. The main ingredients are grape must, nuts and flour. Almonds, walnuts, hazelnut and chocolate and sometimes raisins are threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened grape juice or fruit juices and dried in the shape of a sausage. This is the best souvenir you can get for your friends and family.

Image from Internet

I should mention that Georgian cuisine is known for its meat dishes as the meat used is natural and not factory produced. My husband who eats selective meats praised the roasted trout he ate by the river side in Pasanuri.

Georgian is famous for its cheese, wine and breads. Every house has a local winery and bread baking set up.

If you love cheese- there is so many varieties to taste- Sulguni and Imeruli being the most popular ones.

If you are not found of wine , try Chacha- which is home made vodka.

June is fruit harvest season in Georgian plains, we were in awe of the abundance of cherries, apples, pears, plums in the market. The otherwise plain food of Georgia is well complimented by fruit sauces/chutneys, jams and pickles served with it. 

Tkemali- Sour plum sauce

My post will be incomplete without the mention of bee keeping business in Georgia. We found thousands of bee houses adjacent to the roads we took to get to various regions of the country. It is major occupation of the country.

Bee houses in Svaneti region

I hope you haven’t dozed off until now … ha ha this has become a long post.

Georgian food relies on the natural flavor of ingredients and most of the times least of spices are used , quite opposite to spices heavy Indian food.

Many of the dishes I mentioned in my post are vegan or can be made vegan , so pls ask if you need more info about these or in general about Georgia.

I'm going to try making some of these in my Kitchen.

P.S.-The views expressed in this post are mine , I have added links to the restaurants and eateries I ate at.This post is not paid , I wanted to document good places to eat in Georgia .

It's GG time

Hello Friends,

I hope you had a good start to the new year . It's time for first GG update  of the year. What's GG you ask?

GG or Gifted Gorgeousness SAL is Jo's baby where we show what gift stitching we have been doing. These can be gifts received in form of patterns,kits,floss and fabric or gifts we make for others.

Here are the gifts I received last month and failed to show you.

I visited my family in India last month and somebody missed me.😁

Look what DH made me , a free hand embroidery piece . No need to say I love it ! I asked him how he made it and he showed me the steps :drawing the pattern, fitting it in the frame size. I'm impressed by the talent my man possesses.My late father in law used to embroider and I have seen some of the master pieces he has created. DH has been thinking of continuing with the craft his father did since a while, sorry I don't know what that embroidery is called in English.

I received a beautiful pin cushion with my initial from a fellow Indian crafter ,an extra she added as a thank you for placing an order.

Isn't this precious, infact too pretty to use. I will display this in my showcase instead.

Another new year gift from DH, some cuddly yarn and fabric 

He also bought me boxes to store my floss. Here is a picture of how all my floss away bags perfectly fit in these boxes.

I have been stitching the Candamar piece for my bestie and here is how it looks now. Even though this piece is a PITA , I love stitching this one.

I will end this post with a picture of the first sunset of year 2017, which I clicked while on the way to desert camp in Lahbab desert, Dubai.

The Alphabet Club Catch up post :Letter I

Hello Friends,

I'm sorry for not posting about the Alphabet Club since long, don't know what happened but I fell off the wagon for this one.So here I am trying to catch up ...

Without further delay let's talk about Letter "I"

I is for Hindi word Indradhanush meaning Rainbow. The composite word Indradhanush is made of two words Indra and Dhanush ,dhanush is a bow , bow of Indra, the god of lightning, thunder and rain.
I haven't met a person who doesn't love rainbows. In childhood, we used to wait for rainy season in India to see a rainbow. However, I was quite surprised when I saw a rainbow almost every morning on my way to work while I was deputed to Pascagoula, Mississippi. Here are two of my favourite Indradhanush pictures:

Rainbow spotted on first day to office at Pascagoula,June 2008

Double Rainbow spotted at Edessa Waterfalls,Greece, Sep 2016

I can't think of many Hindi words starting with I, so I'm going to talk about my favourite city from my travels so far- Istanbul. Istanbul , capital of Turkey is one of the most beautiful cities of the world with a right mixture of history and modern world. It has everything to feed various type of travellers: one who are interested in architecture , history(Byzantine and Ottoman Empire), religion , food ,night life . The city is well connected with public transport which is one of the major thing whenever I select a country/city to travel to.The most popular tourist attractions The Blue mosque(Sultan Ahmet Mosque ) and Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) will take your breath away.

Blue mosque(Sultan Ahmet Mosque ) 

Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya)

Süleymaniye Mosque

Chora Church has one of world's most beautiful mosaics of Byzantine times.

I can ramble about the colorful city of Istanbul for days, talk about how it was called Constantinople and was the capital city of Roman/Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman empires, about how this transcontinental city has a rich culture influenced by Asia and Europe, the food , the relaxed evening routine...however I'm limited by time.
I feel lucky to have visited the city in peaceful times and wish peace prevails soon over this magnificient city.

I will be back soon with some intersting facts with letter J ...keep watching.

Bens,Glenns and Lochs-Oh Caledonia

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer

A most appropriate quote I found in one of the magazine onboard Etihad airways.
I'm back from an amazing holiday in Scotland ... a country which nature has blessed in abundance .
I feel rejuvenated and so calm after spending time in valleys ,on hill tops ,on the Misty Skye, listening to tales of Vikings, Jacobites , bag piper music .

I don't think any words can do justice to the beauty of Caledonia( Latin name for Scotland) , so I will let the pictures do the talking.

Gardens at Dunrobin castle

Forth bridge



Beauly Village- beauly is French word for beautiful place

Scotland has many beautiful historical buildings however today I chose to show you pictures mainly of the natural wonders because that's what mesmerized me.

Last but not the least...a picture of bagpipers performing. No tour of Scotland is complete if you don't experience the bagpiper music



Bagpipers performing in Inverness



I hope you like what you see...

Gifted Gorgeousness Overload (April link up post)

Hello Fellas,

I had a fabulous trip to London and have brought back loads of cross stitch supplies.

Those who have read my earlier posts know that I wasn't quite excited about my trip to London which is not the usual me. Travelling and exploring the world is one of my passions.

The fortnight spent in London was full of meeting new people, exploring the historic places of London, its natural beauty and some yummylicious food.

The weather was a bit cold for spring but I loved it, as I'm a winter person.

May be I'll write a separate post about my London experience.

This is the card I made for Mrs. K from whom I bought a few charts .She hasn't received the card yet so I don't know whether she likes it or not.

Here are details of this piece.

I had a great chance to meet a cross stticher "in person" while I was in London. A while ago, Ms. G posted on WOCS page that she wanted to give away some 18 ct aida . I jumped on to the opportunity and told her that I will be in London shortly and can collect it from her. After a few interactions, she kindly agreed to come down to my hotel. It was lovely to meet her and her son. We talked about cultures, food and the world. This is what she gifted me :

These are the charts I bought from Mrs. K :

Some goodies from Mrs. K:

Ms. G overwhelmed me by sending a lot of magazines, needles and 14 ct.aida, the second time.

Sorry for the flash :(

I plan to stitch Pretty Little London from the latest issue of Cross stitch Crazy some time soon

Few pics from my trip




Chapel at the Windsor Castle



Tower Bridge

One of the exhibits at British Museum



Wouldn't this make a beautiful cross stitch design? Exhibit at National Gallery

I have stitched only once during last 15 days and I'm surely not feeling bad about it ;)

Kuwait has been hit by a series of sandstorms. The one on Sunday, the day I came back, was the worst I have seen till now. I got a little scared and poor DH had to seal close every possible source of air / dust.
Hope I get some stitchy time today after 3 days of consecutive cleaning. I'm planning to complete my fractal since now I have got the colors which were missing.


What have you been guys upto?