Georgian food: the complete guide to khachapuri, khinkali and the supra

The word khachapuri translates as "cheese bread," but the dish changes shape and recipe across the regions:

• Imeretian (most common): a round, sealed cheese-stuffed bread. The everyday version.
• Adjarian: the famous boat-shaped one with an egg yolk and butter in the middle — tear off the ends and dip them into the molten centre.
• Megrelian: a double layer, with cheese inside AND on top.
• Penovani: flaky puff pastry filled with cheese.
• Achma: layered, lasagna-like, especially good in Adjara.

A good simple imeretian costs 8–15 GEL at a bakery; an adjarian at a restaurant 18–35 GEL.

Khinkali are large, twisted dumplings traditionally filled with spiced minced beef and pork broth. The mountainous Pshavi and Khevsureti regions are where they were born. To eat one properly: pick it up by the topknot, bite a small hole in the side, sip the broth, then eat the rest. Never use a fork — and never eat the topknot; the count of leftover knots on your plate measures how many you ate.

They cost 0.80–1.50 GEL each at a canteen, 1.50–2.50 GEL in a restaurant. Five to seven is a meal. Order them by the piece, not the plate. Pasanauri in Tbilisi is one of the most famous places, but any neighbourhood sakhinkle is fine.

A supra is the Georgian feast — a structured meal led by a tamada (toastmaster) who steers the table through 12 or more toasts in a fixed order: to peace, to parents, to friends, to the dead, to love, to children, and so on. Wine glasses are emptied between toasts; food keeps arriving for hours.

If you are invited to a supra, accept. Bring a small gift (good wine, sweets) and prepare to eat much more than you think possible. Restaurants like Shavi Lomi, Barbarestan and Azarpesha in Tbilisi can recreate the experience for tourists.

Georgia is the cradle of wine — archaeological finds in Kakheti pushed the earliest known winemaking back to 6000 BC. The traditional method uses giant clay qvevri vessels buried underground, in which the entire grape (skin, stems, pips) ferments for months. The result is dry, tannic and amber-coloured for whites — the original "orange wine."

Six grape varieties to know:

• Saperavi (deep red, mineral)
• Rkatsiteli (white, structured, qvevri-friendly)
• Mtsvane (aromatic white)
• Kisi (perfumed, peach notes)
• Khikhvi (rare, qvevri white)
• Tsolikouri (Imeretian white, light)

For a serious tasting, go to Kakheti. In Tbilisi, the best wine bars are 8000 Vintages, g.Vino and Vino Underground.

Beyond khachapuri and khinkali:

• Mtsvadi — Georgian shish kebab, cooked over vine cuttings.
• Lobio — slow-cooked beans in clay pot, often with cornbread (mchadi).
• Pkhali — vegetable pâtés (spinach, beetroot, leek) topped with crushed walnuts.
• Badrijani nigvzit — fried aubergine rolls with walnut-garlic paste.
• Chakhokhbili — herby chicken stew.
• Kharcho — beef and walnut soup, rich with tklapi (sun-dried plum leather).
• Kubdari — Svan meat pie, heavily spiced.
• Churchkhela — string of walnuts dipped in grape-must "candy," the Georgian "Snickers."