Georgian Eggplant with Walnuts and Garlic

I returned from Georgia with a pretty good stash of contraband; largely wine and cheese but I also picked up some Georgian spices: marigold and blue fenurgeek. The massive amount of cheese I'll address later and for reviews of all those lovely wines check my website ParMieux Wine Adventures because today we're talking about cooking with those spices.

I love Georgian food. If it weren't for the copious amounts of cilantro they use then I'd say Georgian food was pretty darn perfect.While I was in Tbilisi I made sure to buy a lot of the spices I need to make Georgian food at home, namely dried marigold and blue fenugreek.

I really have absolutely no idea what blue fenugreek is but it's a vital ingredient in my favorite Georgian side dish-the eggplants with walnut and garlic paste. This appetizer, served cold, is an amazing melding of flavors. I particularly like to garnish it with pomegranate seeds which, while entirely optional, really add just an extra pop of flavor that brings it all together.

I can, and have, eaten an entire plate of these on my own. I believe that on our recent visit KMac and I ordered this at least once a day. So when I got home with my stash of Georgian spices and wine it seemed like the perfect thing to pair with the Tsitska wine I brought-and it rather was quite a perfect pairing!

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do! They're a little fussy to make, especially if you use the pomegranate seeds, but so worth it!

Georgian Eggplant with Walnuts

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of eggplant (5-ish eggplants)
• 250 grams walnuts
• 1 teaspoon dried blue fenugreek
• 1 teaspoon dried marigold
• 1 teaspoon dried coriander
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 4 large cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• salt
• oil
• water
• pomegranate seeds (optional)

Method:

1.  Using a food processor, blend the walnuts and garlic. In a medium sized bowl combine the walnut garlic mixture with the spices, salt, and vinegar, Add enough water to bring the mixture to a paste-like consistency (5 or tablespoonsful).
2. Slice the eggplants fairly thinly. In a frying pan heat the oil and fry on both sides for 3-4 minutes. Place eggplant slices on paper towels to absorb the extra oil.
3. Once the eggplant slices have cooled, spread the walnut mixture on half the eggplant, fold (in half) then spread more walnut mixture on top.
4. Garnish with fresh cilantro if you're crazy or pomegranate seeds. Serve cold.

I Accidentally Climbed the Caucasus Mountains

After a much better night of sleep in our new, cushy hotel, KMac and I were up and ready for a tour of the Kakheti region. We'd arranged with the hotel to use their car (and driver) to see some of the sights. We really hoped they'd told him the places we suggested because he spoke no English, we obviously no Georgian, and my Russian is not only crap, it's become some sort of weird Russo-Serbian mutant.

After driving for about an hour we pulled up to the Khareba winery. It wasn't on our list but as far as I'm concerned, a wine tasting is an auspicious way to start out any tour! Khareba is one of the country's largest producers. Don't mistake size for quality though. The wine was fine, I've certainly had much worse, but it's not special.We really enjoyed the tour though and bought a couple bottles to take back to the hotel along with a few bottles of locally pressed grape seed oil.

Before we knew how bad it was going to be

Back on the road we drove closer and closer to the Caucasus Mountains. It wasn't too long before our driver gestured at a structure at the top of one of the peeks. "Monastery" he said to which we made agreeing noises. Monasteries were on our list so we were feeling pretty good about this as long, I joked to KMac, as we didn't have to walk up the bloody mountain to get there.

Me and my big mouth. Our driver dropped us off at the base and told us (in Russian) that he'd wait over there for us. Exchanging trepedacious looks, KMac and I got out. We walked around a small parking lot area not really knowing what to do and started following the road up the mountain. Why pave a nice road if they weren't going to allow vehicles?

The Nekresi Monastery

Qvevri still in the ground from the monastery's wine making

We walked for about 20 minutes and stopped for a breather, a long one, and to assess if we wanted to keep going or not. Then we heard an engine and saw a tour bus as it drove down the mountain. No private cars allowed but tour buses were? A good excuse for a long breather we looked up the Nekresi Monastery on TripAdvisor and learned that apparently there were buses which (for a small fee) would drive you up and down the mountain. Sigh. Now we had another decision to make; walk down and get the bus (which apparently only runs when full) or keep going. We pushed on.

A few minutes, and our next breather later, we ran across a group of German-speaking tourists coming down. KMac asked if we had much farther to go and after laughing they told we weren't even half way yet. Not even half way?! I was terrified. I was going to die. My heart was going to explode and I was going to die; but for some reason we decided to keep going!

So onward we trudged. Each time we came to another sharp bend in the road I prayed that we were at the peek and each time I was disappointed. Finally many, many breathers-and about an hour later-we reached the Nekresi Monastery. Was it worth it? Eh.

The views were stunning and the buildings all still in very good repair but I wouldn't have climbed a mountain for that. If you go, be aware that to the right of the entrance is a small booth that sells tickets for the mini bus. Take the mini bus.

Gremi Castle and church

A little afraid that our driver might have given us up for dead, we caught the bus down slightly afraid of what our next stop might be. We arrived at Gremi Castle which was both on our list and mercifully set on only a small hill. A small but nice complex, Gremi includes a large church and adjacent "castle" slash tower which is now a museum.

Church from the tower

In the museum, also small but nice, we had the pleasure of getting a bot of a guided tour of local history from one of the workers who spoke excellent English. After our tour we climbed up into the tower, which wasn't nearly as stair-scary as I thought it would be, in order to take in the amazing views. There are not enough songs to Georgia's beauty; it's a stunning country.

Back in the car and a short drive later we arrived at the Alaverdi Monastery. Also on our list I was hoping we could kill two birds with one stone here: a church for KMac and wine tasting for me. I'd read a lot about the wines coming out of Alaverdi Monastery and was hoping to try them. We got the church but weren't able to do a wine tasting. For which I would later be glad.

The church at the monastery is huge. We sneaked quietly into the back as there was a liturgy on but I didn't stay long. Incense + me = insta-migraine.

The last stop on our tour was the Alexander Chavchavadze museum in Tsinandali. This one did include a wine tasting! The museum is definitely worth a visit to see the house if nothing else. We were also lucky enough to be there for a temporary exhibition by an Italian artist who repurposes old wine barrels to make furniture, art, toys, etc. That was really cool and now I need to build a special wine room in my future home to house not only my future wine collection but also furniture made out of old barrels.

The drive back to Sighnaghi was particularly painful for me. I'd hoped that the car sickness during the original drive up could be attributed to all that wine and no food I'd had that day; sadly no. I wanted to die. When we finally got back to Sighnaghi and I got a few deep breaths of the clear, high elevation air I was good to go.

For dinner that evening we tracked down Okro's Winery (it's hidden up behind the Hotel Signagi) where we had a nice tour and tasting from one of the family members and stayed for dinner. We tried four of Okro's wines but my hands down favorite was their Mtsvane. We even didn't hate their chacha. Unlike most distilleries, Okro's makes theirs from wine instead of pressing the must left after pressing grapes for wine.

Even though our day was a little more adventurous than I'd planned it was a good day and a great way to remember Kakheti before heading back to Tbilisi.

Kakheti, Georgia - More Adventure Than I Wanted Part 1

In September I went on an amazing* trip to Georgia with my friend KMac and somehow totally forgot to write about it!

We arrived in Tbilisi separately, and quite late; me at around midnight and KMac at about 3 AM. Just as the flight attendants were giving everyone the death glare to turn off their phones on my flight I received a message from KMac saying "Don't take a cab! You'll be met at the airport!". And sure enough, after waiting what felt like an hour for my bag I entered the arrivals terminal where I was greeted by a Georgian Orthodox priest.

That was definitely a first for me.

We would see a lot of Father N. during this trip but for the time being I was grateful for the lift.

After a good sleep in, KMac and I stretched our legs on Rustaveli Avenue on our way to meet the team behind Exotic Wine Travels. We'd connected through social media and it turned out we were going to be in Tbilisi at the same time; me just starting to learn about Georgian wines and them promoting their fantastic book, Uncorking the Caucasus.

We met them at Vino Underground, a great wine bar owned by a group of Georgia's leading natural wine makers where we proceeded to enjoy three, or was it four? amazing bottles of Georgian wine. Unfortunately between then and catching our ride with Father N to Sighnaghi, neither KMac nor I had time to eat. Combine that with major car sickness from the windy mountainous drive and I wanted to die. I don't think I've been that car sick since the drive from Sarajevo to Belgrade.

It was late when we finally made it to our guesthouse and we were ready to sleep. I had booked us rooms at the most highly rated guesthouse (the most common type of accommodation outside Tbilisi) in Sighnaghi-David Zandrashvili's Guesthouse. We knew we weren't in for five start treatment but we were a little shocked by what we found. To start, apparently there was a 10 PM curfew that wasn't listed in the house rules online. That curfew would explain why the guesthouse, at capacity, was practically shaking with the loud music, singing, and stomp-dancing of other guests. I settled into room while KMac was shown to hers: downstairs, through the common room, through the dining room, through the kitchen, then outside again, down some unlit stairs that had no handrail, and into another building.

Sighnaghi

Streets of Sighnaghi

Five minutes later I got a message from KMac: "There's a huge spider in my room! I tried to kill it but it got away!" Not a fan of spiders myself I told her that if she wanted, she was welcome in my (assumingly) spider-free room. No, no, she assured me; but several minutes later I got another message: "Now there's another, completely different spider. I'm on my way!" Between the noise of other guests, paper thin walls, and the loud, creaky bed it was hours before we were able to get to sleep.

We were up early the next morning with two missions: attend orthodox liturgy since there are no Catholic churches in Sighnaghi, and find a new hotel. Luckily we were successful in both endeavors and in the afternoon dragged our suitcases up the hill to the posh, and pricey hotel spa where we stayed three years ago. What a difference.

Sighnaghi city walls

View of Sighnaghi from our hotel

Happily ensconced in our new hotel, and after a brief rest to make up for all the sleep we missed the night before, we headed out to find two of the most important things you could ever want in Georgia: food and wine. For dinner we headed to a restaurant called Wine World. You call a restaurant 'Wine World' and there are certain assumptions, right? As in, lots of wine. No. There were three house wines: red, white, and green. We went with the green which wasn't too bad as long as we thought of it as ice tea instead of wine. The food was killer though. We had mtsvade (grilled pork and onions), lobiani (bread stuffed with slow cooked beans), eggplant with walnut garlic paste, and sulguni cheese stuffed mushrooms baked in a clay dish. So don't go to Wine World for the wine but it's worth it for the food.
 

We bought a bottle of wine to take back to our hotel and drank it on the hotel sky terrace playing with the astrology star app on KMac's phone. Then it was time for bed to rest up for our tour of Kakheti the next day-a tour that included us accidentally climbing a mountain!



*All trips to Georgia would be amazing but traveling with KMac comes with extra experiences; but more on that later!

Budapest Revisited

Twelve years ago I visited, not only Budapest, but Eastern Europe for the very first time. I hated it. I did not get why people liked Budapest so much. It did not help that it was still fracking winter and snowing and bitterly cold. Or that I was getting a little culture shocked from the Eastern European mindset, or that I couldn't speak the language.

Well I still can't speak the language (I'm sorry Hungarians but really?) and my German is actually worse now than it was 12 years ago but now I'm a lot more accustomed to being able to communicate without a firm grasp of the local language. Plus, a lovely, cool summer day makes just about any city enjoyable. So on the one day we had free from the travesty of a work event that had me stuck in Hungary I took a train into Budapest and enjoyed the day.

First up of course was Mass at Szt Istvan Bazilika. In Hungarian. Sigh. I miss Latin.

 

After Mass I met up with my colleague with whom I had taken the 7AM train into the city. We wandered a bit, had a drink a schmancy hotel near Saint Stephen's, and then saw this:

You can't really see it in this picture but it's a Georgian restaurant called Hachapuri!! A GEORGIAN RESTAURANT!!!! We had a moment of mind meld and headed straight for it without a word. Heaven. Pure heaven. We stayed there eating, drinking, and talking for about three hours...just long enough for all the grey clouds to disappear and the sun to come out!

We had those eggplant rolls with walnut paste (I can never remember what they're called: let's go with transcendent deliciousness), khachapouri ajari (the only khatchapouri in my book), mushroom khinkali, and beef/pork khinkali. And there was wine. Georgian wine! A lovely Rkatsiteli, perfect for a summer day.

After we pulled ourselves away from the Georgia restaurant (where I bought a bottle to go!) there was more wandering around.

While walking around we found the synagogue and I was reminded of how much I love this building. Sure I think Saint Stephen's is stunning (although the interior is a little too Byzantine for my taste), but the synagogue is stunning. The largest in Europe, it is over 150 years old and built in a Moorish style. Sadly we didn't have enough time to take the tour but maybe next time.

The train ride back to the middle of no where was a nice end to the day. I forget how much I love trains. We had a spectacular sunset to admire as we raced (well chugged along speedily I suppose) through the Hungarian countryside.

Between stalls at the festival and dutyfree I came home with a pretty decent haul: five bottles of Hungarian wine, one bottle of Georgian wine, one bottle of vodka, one bottle of rum, 3 pounds of brown sugar, and a giant pork sausage.

And Sherlock was almost as happy to see me as she was to play with the suitcase.

Pop Up Restaurant Presents Georgian!

One of the things I miss here is really good international food. I've found decent Thai, outstanding Korean, good enough Indian, but Chinese still eludes my grasp. This is all about to change because I recently learned about PopUp Restaurant Istanbul! I can't believe I didn't know about this before.

What an intro to PopUp Istanbul-Georgian food! I love, love, love Georgian food. I believe there are actually one or two Georgian restaurants in the Aksaray bus station; but Aksaray is a wee dodgy and I haven't wanted to wander around there looking for the bus station. Now that E&M are here though we'll get around to that once it stops snowing. The long and short though was that PopUp Istanbul is around the corner from my apartment and the menu was like a greatest hits of Georgian foods.

Celeric in mustard mayonnaise
Red pepper stuffed with carrot and spices
Aubergine rolls with walnut garlic paste
Spinach balls with cheese
Khachapouri

Khninkali

Walnut chicken with rice an herby beetroot

Choux pastry round

My two favorite Georgian foods, and two of my favorite foods period, are eggplant rolls with walnut and garlic paste and khatchapouri. Khatchapouri is an art form and there are several kinds. My personal favorite is adjarian khatchapouri. Imagine a bread boat that's been hollowed out, filled with one kind of cheese and topped with another kind, and butter. Unfortunately it's traditionally served also with a raw egg cracked over the top...hold the egg please. We had imeretian khatchapouri which is a, kind of corn bread-like round bread stuffed with cheese. I won't say no to that!

In addition to the amazing food, all prepared by Maia, a lovely Georgian woman, E&M and I enjoyed the company of a disparate and lovely group of new people. We were the only newbies there that night; something we plan to change by becoming regular members! It seems I was the only one at our table who had been to Georgia and I'm afraid I sounded like a terrible know it all-going on and on about the food and wine and how everyone should visit. Hopefully I sounded like an enthusiastic know it all rather than a pedantic one. I feel like that matters.

BYOB-of course we brought Suvla!

Not only is Maia a killer chef, she also sells khinkali (soup filled meat dumpling amazingness) frozen; so you can make them at home. She makes a small version, kind of like a large Turkish manti, and the traditional size. Dude. And since I was having such a good time I forgot to photograph anything except the meze course, completely fortuitous.

The next PopUp Restaurant Istanbul is next Saturday and will be Chinese food to celebrate the New Year. I really, really want to go but already promised myself to a friend's birthday party. There will be other PopUp nights though and I'll be there! If you're in Istanbul...well don't go to PopUp. The space is limited and I don't want competition!