A Trip To Georgia (Via Islington)
All things tasty and Georgian were the toast of the town last weekend when the country’s chefs and sommeliers showed off their delicious wares to Londoners.
We kicked off the feasting at the Little Georgia restaurant in Islington where my lack of exposure to Georgian cuisine was swiftly put right. Ruby red cherry juice and tart apple juice slaked thirsts on a hot July evening during London’s hottest weekend this year, and tables groaned with goodies yet to be tasted.
This 15 year old restaurant, a short walk from Angel tube station through Chapel Market, was soothingly cool, with jade green and cream décor, touches of Soviet-era posters and quirky artefacts. Guests spoke fondly of foodie experiences in Georgia and its capital city of Tbilisi. Sadly I’m a stranger to both, but after sampling a dozen dishes or so I’d be happy to pack my bags for the next flight.
Georgian Cuisine
Mind you, I’d be a few kilos heavier on the return trip if this cheese and cream rich and bread heavy menu was anything to go by. Appetisers included a salty mozzarella rosti liberally sprinkled with strong cheese. Mchardi corn bread and chvishtaro cheesey corn bread were well matched with marinated beetroot, with aubergine, spinach and walnut pkhali, a traditional vegetable pâté, with kotris lobio, a kidney bean stew with coriander, garlic and unnamed spice, and with chkmeruli, fried chicken in rich garlic cream sauce.
What the authentic dishes lack in vowels they certainly make up for in calories. Basketsfull of breads were ideal to soak up a rather robust, full-blooded Georgian red wine that took no prisoners.
Fresh tomato and mushroom salads gave the palate a refresher before the lure of desserts so tantalisingly close to our table. Tsandili, served in little glasses, was like a creamy rice pudding, but it was actually wheat seasoned with nuts, raisins, honey, apricots and cherries. Then there was pelamushi, a hearty dish of red grape juice mixed with wheat flour and walnut. Honey cake was soft, sweet and all you want of a fluffy sponge. A pretty three-tier cake stand offered fresh cherries, strawberries, plums and pastries. Slices of dried fruits were a winner too.
Then, and only then, came the announcement of main courses. As if…
Exploring Georgia Through Food
It was an opportunity missed to sample khinkali, seasoned pork and beef dumplings and no end of stews. But hey, this will give me a good reason to return.
As well as hosting this event at Little Georgia, which was attended briefly by the Georgian ambassador, the Georgian National Tourism Administration also participated in the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival. Leading Georgian chefs and sommeliers joined those from around the world in London for a series of culinary and wine masterclasses.
There were tastings and discussions about Georgian food, and guests discovered a viticulture that’s thrived for some 8,000 years. Under the guidance of sommelier Irakli Cholobargia they tasted wines crafted at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
Our parting shot from Little Georgia was chacha, grape vodka, and/or a heady Georgian brandy for the journey home. Cheers.
- For more information about travel to Georgia, visit https://georgia.travel/
