A day of georgian food

Today was a bit weird. The main reason I came to Georgia was for the food. As soon as I had booked my flights and the main tour I booked a food tour in Tbilisi with a company I have used in Turkey. The Turkey one was brilliant and so I was excited about doing this next one.  I have tried many of the traditional food along the way and there were a couple of things I avoided specifically so I could have them today.   

The tour began in the old city which dates back thousands of years and is  particularly quaint. The domes you see on the buildings are vents from the many bathhouses that also date back that far. 

Our guide was a lovely lady called Maka aand there were two other guests. A young chef from the states and a young lady from the uk who was in the re-insurance industry like I was. She was joining the Intrepid tour that follows on from the one I did with Ani. 

Our first stop was an old tea shop which had stood in its underground location for hundreds of years (maybe as long as the bath houses). Its these hidden little gems that we could never find alone. They only serve tea; black tea in little glasses accompanied by sugar cubes and slices of lemon. The only other customers was a group of men who apparently go there each morning to hang out. 

Next stop a vegetarian restaurant again in the old town. This place owned by some of Maka’s friends and here we were given a huge wooden bowl with small samples of vegetarian delicacies from Georgia. Some cheeses, spreads, pickles, salads and some corn bread which was possibly the worst thing I have eaten on this trip. It was so dense and dry I could not, for quite some time, swallow it. Just gross. 

The ceiling of this restaurant was really cool. 

All was redeemed though when they bought us each a little sweet delicacy. A Belliami, something unique to this restaurant. Ground walnuts, sugar and spices, rolled into a ball, covered in a caramel and then studded with whole walnuts. The whole thing was then covered with a toffee. It was so so so good that I quickly forgot about the corn bread. 

We popped into a wee market where I saw tomatoes that were the same colour as the ones at home. The ones that taste like cardboard. Beneath them were the ruby red ones that we have been eating most every day. The ones that taste like honey tomatoes and are absolutely divine. 

Next stop we were at a shop that sold the traditional dumplings. Khinkhali. While we waited for our dumplings we were served a shot of chacha. That is the spirit that they told us about at the vineyard and is like rocket fuel. I knew I would not be able to sip mine so quickly skulled it and boy did it pack a punch.  

Maybe it was the chacha but these dumplings were not anywhere near as tasty as the ones we had in Telavi, but still were ok and it was fun sucking out the broth and then enjoying the meat and wrapper. 

For a main we stopped at a place that served, as a specialty dish, something called shkmuerli. Roasted chicken smothered in a milk and garlic sauce. Not for me sorry but the guy with us loved it. I did enjoy the aubergine dip on some ordinary bread. 

Wine tasting at an underground cellar completed our day. The four wines we tasted were all made in the traditional method as we saw at the vineyard the other day and although they were all very nice none excited me too much and I had already heard the story of how the wine is made and a bit of the history. 

That was the last stop on the tour which left me disappointed as apart from the delicious walnut sweet there was nothing that excited me and some of the traditional food I was expecting was not included. 

Tour over I returned to the hotel and chilled out for the evening. Dinner was bread from the local bakery with nutella from the corner shop. 

Nothing wrong with that.