You should definitely try warmth of Georgian hospitality

"That which we give makes us richer, that which is hoarded is lost"

Shota Rustaveli, "The Knight in the Panther’s Skin", 12th century

Once you find yourself in Georgia you must attend a traditional Georgian feast – Supra! You will travel back in time, experience the present, and toast the future. Supra means an ordinary tablecloth in Georgian, but this is not just an ordinary meal – this is a meeting of generations where everyone is given an opportunity to wish the others a long and healthy life, to celebrate the living, and to pay homage to those who are no longer with us. The revered master of ceremony – tamada – knows all the guests and directs the feast from beginning to end; he will entrance you with ancient toasts and treat you with traditional Georgian hospitality; even the most sophisticated gourmand will not remain indifferent to the celebrated Georgian cuisine; and the songs of the polyphonic Georgian choir and national dances will provide an experience you will remember for the rest of your life!

A feast for the skier and the gourmand

The national Georgian cuisine is a real feast for the palate and even the most sophisticated aficionado of refined dishes will find a dish after his heart! The Georgian culinary recipes and gastronomic philosophy relies on the contrast of the spicy and the hot; like any other national cuisine it is based on local products, specific to the Caucasus, resulting in world-famous dishes.

An important place in the Georgian cuisine is reserved for spicy herbs and nuts - hazelnuts, beechnuts, almonds, but above all – walnuts that are a must ingredient of various condiments and sauces suitable for fowl, vegetables, and even fish. Nuts are also used in meat soups and pastry, salads and hot second dishes.

Cold entrees include lobio - bean-based dishes; pkhali that contains young nettles, beetroot leaves and spinach; dishes that include egg-plant with walnuts and garlic. Cheeses are particularly important: Georgian cheeses are very different from European ones in flavour and are used in very different ways in entrees, first and second dishes. Almost every region in Georgia boasts its own variety of cheese: Samegrelo is famous for Sulguni, Imereti offers Gadazelili, a very soft cheese with mint; and Tusheti prefers Guda, a sheep cheese.

Like the French cuisine, the Georgian cuisine offers a wide variety of hot and sour sauces whose taste, flavour and piquancy are vastly different from the better known sauces of the international cuisine. The most widely used sauces are various types of adjika made of hot peppers; tkemali which is based on prunes, and satsebeli which contains tomatoes and sweet pepper. Baje, a very spicy gravy of ground walnuts with garlic and wine vinegar served with meat and fish, is considered the special festive sauce.

The better known Georgian soups are kharcho, a beef broth with rice, walnuts and a special sour foundation of plums; chikhirtma – a soup of mutton, chicken or turkey meat with an egg foundation, and khashi – a very thick broth made with beef feet and stomach and served with ground garlic and dried lavash.

Khinkali – big juicy ravioli sprayed with black ground pepper, are considered a special meat dish. Khinkali are usually served as the main and only dish; the people call such a meal khinklaoba – khinkali feast. The best known festive dish is satsivi – spicy cold chicken or turkey ragout with ground walnuts. Also served on frequent occasions are oven-baked piglets, chakhokhbili, meat and chicken fried in a Georgian way.

Various types of khachapuri – bread stuffed with cheese – are baked in different regions of Georgia, of which Adjara style and Imeruli khachapuri, penovani – flaky dough khachapuri, and achma – cooked dough with cheese, being the most popular ones. Corn bread and various corn flour flatbreads are common in Western Georgia, while wheat bread is the preferred variety in Eastern Georgia.

Georgia - the cradle of wine-making

Folk wisdom: "Wines are something eternal, a foundation of the economy and everyday life, the outlook and character of the Georgian people."

Georgia is a source of the wine and the motherland of viniculture. At archaeological excavations in the layers of a bronze epoch in Georgia jugs were found with vestiges of grape seeds and also wine-making equipment – stone presses and various clay and metal vessels that are several thousand years old. The Georgians’ love of the grape wine is expressed in legends, ancient tales and songs, and Christianity was introduced in the 4th century with a grapevine cross as a symbol of unity of the people's faith and the national treasure.

The country's major viniculture and wine making region is Kakheti in Eastern Georgia, and the Alazan valley is Kakheti's most famous wine making area – fertile soils, a gentle climate, abundant waters and forests, diverse and luscious nature make the famous Kakheti valley, which is a sacred place for every Georgian, a true cradle of the noble grape wine.

Georgia's best known white wines – Tsinandali, a superior white wine with an excellent fruity bouquet and a gentle and refined taste, and the pride of Georgian winemakers; and Mtsvane, a dry white wine of light straw colour with a fresh and harmonious taste; Saperavi, Kindzmarauli, Mukuzani and Khvanchkara are quality red wines of intensive dark red colour and pronounced fruity bouquets.