It is so nice to be back in Georgia. Tbilisi seems a bit like a building site. So much construction work. Well of course, elections are coming. But I take much pleasure in the things that are just the same. The little restaurants near my flat. Prospero's bookshop has expanded, and is still a very nice place to sit in the shade on a warm Sunday afternoon. I only wish they would learn how to make decent coffee. Strolling through Tbilisi, down to the Old Town, and inevitably running into friends along the way. I am thinking of buying a carpet for my new flat in London, so today I went to my favourite carpet shop, where I bought two carpets six years ago. To my amazement, the lady said she recognized me. I will certainly buy one.
And then there is the food. Ah, to be eating khinkali again. An early visit to the excellent restaurant on Leselidze with the completely unpronounceable name. Khinkali are often described as Georgian dumplings, but I don't think that is quite right. A better comparison is to describe them as big ravioli. A thin layer of pastry, filled with minced meat, usually a mixture of beef and pork, well seasoned with herbs, and then boiled. Cooked inside the surrounding pastry, the juices of the meat make a delicious broth. They are eaten with the hands, gently biting into the soft pastry and then slurping out the broth before it spills all over you, and then gobbling them down. It is quite an art. After two years, I was out of practice, and I approached my first one gingerly. But after five of them, I was back on form. Before cooking, the pastry is closed by folding and twisting it at one end, making a kind of knob of pastry. This is usually left uneaten on the plate, serving as the proof of how many one has eaten. Khinkali eating can be a serious competitive sport as well as a great pleasure. A local driver tells us his record is 100 in 40 minutes. He is a big fellow, but this seems so improbable that he will have to be made to prove it. I have visions of something like the scene with Paul Newman and the hard-boiled eggs in "Cool-Hand Luke".
So many pleasures. I especially love the aubergine-wrapped walnut paste. And the spinach with walnut paste. And the Khachapuri, sometimes described as Georgian pizza. It comes in different forms, named after different regions of the country. I particularly like Khachapuri Megeruli, from the Megrelia region in western Georgia, which has sulguni cheese on top, as well as inside. Also Khachapuri Adjaruli, from Adjara, on the Black Sea coast, with an egg in the middle. Shashlik, of course, served with tkemali (plum) sauce. And the tomato and cucumber salads, covered in parsley. The tomatoes here, like all the fresh produce, are just so delicious. And a particular favourite, chicken pieces roasted in a pot with garlic sauce - yum yum.
Living in Georgia seems to be one long feast. The only antidote to the inevitable weight gain is the occasional bouts of food poisoning. A drastic, but perhaps necessary solution.
