Georgia!

I figured Georgia would be a tricky one, but I lucked out with an Eastern European/Russian market just down the road! Yeleseyevsky Deli is a gem in Lyndhurst- aisles upon aisles of chocolate and candies, more varieties of rye bread than I knew existed, unique beverages from Czech Republic/Poland/Georgia/etc. (including beer, wine, and liquor), tons of jars and cans full of things I couldn't translate, freezers full of pierogies and other delights, and an impressive deli and prepared foods section.

After browsing for way too long and Googling to try to figure out what things were and if those things corresponded to the list of Georgian foods I was on the hunt for and panicking a bit because I didn't know how to even attempt to pronounce anything to ask one of the many friendly women working there and then finally just deciding to go for the things that clearly said Georgia somewhere on the label plus the two things that I knew for sure were on my list, I made it to the checkout counter with my selections: 

Pear lemonade, lecho, khacapuri, khinkali, and a chocolate bar as a reward because that was an intense shopping trip. Whew. 

While things cook, let's research! 

Georgia sits between Europe and Asia near the Black Sea on the ancient Silk Trade route making it a highly sought after area for centuries. Turkey, Russia, and the former Persian empire all wanted a slice of the Georgian cake. 

From Wikipedia: During the classical era, several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia, such as Colchis and Iberia. In the early 4th century, ethnic Georgians officially adopted Christianity, which contributed to the spiritual and political unification of the early Georgian states. In the Middle Ages, the unified Kingdom of Georgia emerged and reached its Golden Age during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Thereafter, the kingdom declined and eventually disintegrated under the hegemony of various regional powers, including the Mongols, the Turks, and various dynasties of Persia. In 1783, one of the Georgian kingdoms entered into an alliance with the Russian Empire, which proceeded to annex the territory of modern Georgia in a piecemeal fashion throughout the 19th century.

After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Georgia emerged as an independent republic under German protection. Following World War I, Georgia was invaded and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1922, becoming one of its constituent republics. By the 1980s, an independence movement emerged and grew quickly, leading to Georgia's secession from the Soviet Union in April 1991. For most of the subsequent decade, post-Soviet Georgia suffered from economic crisis, political instability, ethnic conflict, and secessionist wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Following the bloodless Rose Revolution in 2003, Georgia strongly pursued a pro-Western foreign policy; it introduced a series of democratic and economic reforms aimed at integration into the European Union and NATO. The country's Western orientation soon led to worsening relations with Russia, which culminated in the Russo-Georgian War of 2008; Russia has since been occupying a portion of Georgia.

I've researched several countries for this project that claim to be the birthplace of coffee, but this is the first country to declare itself the birthplace of wine! 8,000 years ago, some lucky Georgians poured grape juice into an earthenware jar and buried it in a shallow pit - voila! wine! - and the world was forever thankful. 

A supra is a traditional Georgian feast and a part of their social culture. Supra literally means "table-cloth" and is synonymous with feasts where a large table is set for friends and family to gather. Traditionally (and likely still), men are at the forefront of the supra and women are in supporting roles, especially as far as food preparation goes.  A tamada, or toastmaster, leads the supra and introduces each toast during the feast. Once again, from Wikipedia: A successful tamada must possess great rhetorical skill and be able to consume a large amount of alcohol without showing signs of drunkeness. 

During the meal, the tamada will propose a toast, and then speak at some length about the topic. The guests raise their glasses, but do not drink. After the tamada has spoken, the toast continues, often in a generally counter-clockwise direction (to the right). The next guest who wishes to speak raises their glass, holds forth, and then drains their glass. If a guest does not wish to speak, they may drink from their glass after some words that particularly resonate for him or her.

Eating is entirely appropriate during toasts, but talking is frowned upon. Once everyone who wishes to speak on the theme has done so, the tamada proposes a new toast, and the cycle begins again. Some popular traditional themes include toasts to God, Georgia, family, the mother of God, various saints, friends, ancestors, and so on. However, the theme of each toast is up to the tamada, who should be able to tailor his or her toasts to the occasion.

This has me very, very determined to attend a supra in my life!

Time to eat!

I was kind of going into this blind because I wasn't exactly sure what I had purchased and how to serve it! The khinkali are meat-filled dumplings and huge! The package I bought said "Russian-style ravioli". They’re designed to be eaten by hand: hold each dumpling by its stem (like an open umbrella), sprinkle it with black pepper, and take a small bite from the side of the cushiony top, sucking out the hot broth before chewing your way into the filling. These didn't have the same soup dumpling broth inside, so I decided to try them with some caramelized onions I had in the fridge and ate them with a fork like the novice khinkali eater I am. They were still very, very delicious and had a similar taste to momos, one of my favorite Nepali dishes. 

I'm hearing from friends that khacupuri is having A Moment. It's a cheese bread that has many regional styles. The kind available at the market was rachuli - often called bachulebi, the only difference between rachuli khachapuri and the rest is its shape. Instead of a circle, it’s a rectangle. Once the dough is rolled out, the cheese filling is placed in the center, then the sides of the dough are folded into an envelope shape. Last, the top is brushed with egg wash. It was a flaky exterior with a dry, white, almost ricotta like cheese inside. I ate the leftover piece the next morning with a yolky egg on top -- highly recommend! 

The lecho jar said Georgian Village on it which I think is just the brand name, but hey, I was desperate. It's a common Slavic canned vegetable salad often served as a side dish or garnish to meat dishes. It's very simple - tomatoes, peppers, onions, paprika. I dipped bites of the khinkali into it! 

The pear lemonade was mostly pear, not a lot of lemon, but slightly fizzy and very sweet. The chocolate bar was incredible -- the little bits of popped corn had an almost Pop Rocks or Rice Krispies feel to them. They would fizzle on your tongue! 

I'm already planning my next visit to Yeleseyevsky Deli for chocolate stocking stuffers and to try out more things from the deli. The frozen khinkalis are going to become a freezer staple of ours as well. 

Maybe pick up some home decor while we're at it? 

13 down, 39 to go! 

Yeleseyevsky Deli
5378 Mayfield Road
Lyndhurst, OH 44124
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SUN | 11:00 - 5:00pm
MON - SAT | 10:00 - 7:00pm