Georgian Food: 10 Dishes You Have to Try

Georgian cuisine is one of the few that can make you fall in love at first bite. Rich in spices and generous with cheese and walnuts, it’s perfect for vegetarians and meat lovers alike.

Khinkali are big dumplings with meat broth inside. You eat them with your hands: bite into the bottom and sip the juice. The doughy top knot isn’t eaten — it’s left on the plate. Adjarian khachapuri is a bread boat filled with sulguni cheese, a raw egg and a knob of butter. Stir it with a fork and dip the bread in.

Mtsvadi (barbecue) — young pork or lamb grilled over coals, always served with satsebeli sauce. Lobiani — a bean-filled pie, the best winter breakfast. Pkhali — rolls of boiled spinach or beetroot with walnuts and spices.

Sweets: churchkhela — walnuts threaded on a string and dipped in grape juice. Pelamushi — a thick grape pudding. Drinks: Kakhetian wine made the qvevri way (in clay jars), chacha (grape vodka) and tarragon lemonade — the taste of childhood for every Georgian.