Georgia (Caucasus)

A Georgian cold appetizer of thin-sliced aubergine that is salted, pan-fried until pliable, then rolled around a dense paste of ground walnuts seasoned with garlic, blue fenugreek (utskho suneli), coriander, and wine vinegar, finished with pomegranate seeds.

A Georgian spring stew of young lamb or veal braised with enormous quantities of fresh tarragon, unripe green plums, dry white wine, and spring onions — a dish defined by its vivid herbaceous tartness rather than spice or fat.

A Caucasian confection in which walnut halves or hazelnuts are threaded on cotton string and repeatedly dipped in grape must (badagi) thickened with wheat flour into a firm, chewy coating called tatara, then hung to air-dry into a sausage-shaped candy.

Wine fermented and aged in beeswax-lined buried clay vessels called qvevri, with extended skin contact that produces the characteristic amber color and tannic structure in white grape wines.

A boat-shaped yeasted bread from Adjara, Georgia, with a hollow hull packed with molten sulguni cheese and finished tableside with a raw egg and a pat of butter that the diner stirs in and eats by tearing the crust.

A large, hand-pleated Georgian boiled dumpling whose filling of spiced minced meat and raw onion releases a concentrated broth during cooking, making the trapped soup an inseparable part of the dish.

A Georgian filled flatbread stuffed with a spiced mashed kidney-bean paste, the savory bean cousin of cheese-filled khachapuri.

A Georgian slow-cooked red kidney bean dish seasoned with walnuts, blue fenugreek, garlic, and fresh cilantro, served thick and scoopable as an everyday staple and fasting-table centrepiece.

Mtsvadi is a Georgian dish of chunked pork or lamb threaded onto skewers and grilled slowly over smoldering grapevine-wood embers, seasoned with minimal marinade so the vine smoke and meat define the flavor.

A Georgian dish of pan-fried pork and potatoes with onion, served sizzling in a clay dish; its name means 'family-style'.

A Georgian stew of beef simmered with tomatoes, onion, and chili, brightened with garlic and fresh herbs into a spicy, aromatic sauce.

A Georgian cold appetizer of a single cooked-and-squeezed vegetable bound with a ground walnut-garlic-herb paste, shaped into small pressed balls or patties and traditionally crowned with a pomegranate seed.

Satsivi is cold poached poultry (chicken or turkey) coated in a thick, spiced walnut sauce, traditionally served as a cold feast dish in Georgian cuisine.

A long, canoe- or crescent-shaped Georgian leavened wheat bread slapped onto and baked against the inner wall of a tone clay oven.

A Georgian sour-plum sauce made from wild tkemali plums simmered down with garlic, fresh dill, and pennyroyal (ombalo) into a thick, intensely tart condiment served alongside grilled meats, potatoes, and bread.