When Lali sensed our enthusiasm for Georgian food, she agreed to make khingkale (meat filled dumplings) from scratch with us. Once the meat filling is made, it's all about the fill, turn, tuck and twist.Depending on whom you talk to, khingkale tops require 21 or 37 turns. But who's counting??Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
This graffiti was found on one of the walls of the Telavi Hotel that now houses refugees from Abkhazia. Someone obviously has some artistic ambition, but most of what we saw at the hotel was pretty depressing - a crumbling hotel full of refugees who have no where to go and no where to work. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
The result of Lali's lessons with us on how to fill, twist and tuck khingkale. After a few twists, some turns, a wing and a prayer, they are dropped into a pot of salted, boiling water in order to cook the meat inside. If assembled correctly, all the juices stay in the dumpling just long enough to dribble down somone's shirt on the first bite. The trick: eat khingkale with your hands, while keeping the hot juices inside the dumpling as you eat. Not to be missed when in Georgia.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Georgia.
A friendly vegetable vendor shoots us a smile at the Telavi main market.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
If the size of the wine jugs are any indication, the monks at Alaverdi have a large supply of wine to get through each year..... Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Shashlik, tomatoes, puri (flat Georgian bread), herbs and homemade wine are all spread out on the ground for a feast after the climb to the caves. A ruined 8-9th century church sits rubbled in the background. After the hike, Misha handed us each 2 candles to light in the church where an impromptu altar was set up. Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Telavi is the regional capital of Kakheti and is surrounded by vineyards, fields, and the Caucasus mountains in the distance.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Dining Options in Telavi
As we strolled the aisles at the Telavi main market, vendors would engage us in Russian to find out where we were from. Just being American in this part of the world actually gets lots of smiles...something we're not used to during most of our travels!Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
Trunks filled with vegetables at the Telavi main market in Kakheti.These tomatoes were so sweet you could eat them like fruit. As amazing as these are, we're told that they are nothing compared to the tomatoes that come in August/September.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
This looked to us like something out of a Mediterranean coffee table book, but it is the simple abode of the priest at Ikalto.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Our friend Rob's place in Kakheti.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Two Azerbaijani vendors at the Telavi main market. Their kind, expressive faces couldn't help but draw us in.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
There is an option to taste wines from the Tsinandali winery for 5 Lari/person ($3). We tried three varieties. Unfortunately, none were particularly outstanding.When the tasting room host tried to sell us a bottle, she explained that the bottled wine would be much better than what we had tasted. Tasting bottles slowly oxidize in the fridge through a trickle of tourist traffic.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
Another shot in our series of pig heads at the market....this time from the market in Telavi, Georgia.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
The main church in Alaverdi dates back to the 11th century, but a sign outside tells of how it has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times since then. These days, several monks live on the grounds, caring for the church, the vines...and the donkey.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Savory and sweet; mild, spicy and everything in between.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
These jolly mushroom vendors at the Telavi market couldn't stop laughing after Audrey asked if she could take a photo.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Cha cha (a grappa-like firewater popular in Georgia) awaits, stowed in a recycled liquor bottle.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Piles of fresh garlic at Telavi's food market.Read more about Georgian Food and our visit to Kakheti.
The cozy living room of our friend's place in Kisiskhevi, Kakheti.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
A large rooster takes a rest on the front step of a house in Telavi.
While Audrey was admiring and photographing the roses along the side of a house in Kisiskhevi, the grandmother emerged and began cutting bunches for Audrey to take with her. We had to almost physically stop her from cutting more than this.Read more about our visit to Kakheti and adventures with Misha and Shota.
Telavi's food market.
Bucket of Roses
