Hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day! It's Mark Wiens I'm in the incredibly ancient, beautiful city of Tibilisi which is the capital. it's the largest city in the country of Georgia Wow! Today I am hanging out with my friend Christo who is from culinary back streets. They offer amazing food culinary tours across Georgia into Blissey She is absolutely the most energetic, passionate and knowledgeable person about Georgian food that you could possibly meet. She is going to take you and me on an ultimate Georgian food tour into Belisi.

We'll be going to the market, we'll be going to the bazaar. We'll be going to eat some of the most famous legendary dishes things that you have to eat. when you visit to Belisi. It's going to be an incredible day! and I Cannot wait to share this incredible City and all of the delicious food coming up with you all in this video right now we are starting off the day this morning to eat one of the major foods of Georgia It's a giant cheese boat.

We're going to see the entire process and I can't wait to try it! So when we meet it's from these guys. So Chef Gia there he is. The restaurant is called retro and we are about to eat Kachapuri Oh man! I Cannot wait to begin this food tour! Welcome to Retro I'm immediately decked out in some kitchen apparel. We are heading into the kitchen.

We met up with Chef Gia and he is going to show us the entire process. So the first step is he flattens out that dough kind of needs it. You can see how soft and supple that does and how area it is and then he just molds it into folds over both sides and then molts it into like a trough like boat. The chef just made the normal sized but now he's going to make that Titanic which is the gigantic size.

It's like 10 times bigger than the normal size. It's huge again directly into the oven. Wow! Also what's amazing here is that Chef is using all wood burning for the oven and there's if you look closely you can see there's fire on both sides so that just keep radiating in that oven. You can immediately start to see that bread.

that puffy bread of the kachapuri just stuff up in that heat so that's going to bake for about 15 minutes in the oven. So I'd say we're about 10 minutes in you can start to see the cheese bubbling and just sloshing around and Browning on the surface. Oh man. So Christo was telling me that kachapuri is so popular.

People love it and yet people know that it's not the healthiest thing to eat. And so Chef actually invented it himself Where he pulls it out of the oven, he digs out a little bit of the excess bread dough, dumps that out so that you're left with more of a crispy shell, less doughiness, and just more of the the cheese. The good stuff he adds in an egg on top. He lets go of a little bit of the white, mostly focusing on the egg yolk, drops that right into the center, puts it back in the oven just for a little bit.

Wow, there it is. the Titanic. It is Huge. Well thank you Chef! This is the Titanic of Kachapuri.

It literally is a Titanic-sized boat full of boiling cheese wrapped in dough. Six eggs, two kilos of cheese? Yes, and this is the normal sized look at that comparison. Oh man, that will fulfill every tree's dream you've ever had in your life. And I think what's amazing is that it's just hot and fresh right out of the oven.

Boiling cheese bubbling on the surface, crispy fresh bread. Something truly special. Thank you. So just a short walk away, we are at one of the major Market bazaars where you'll find food and ingredients that make up.

Georgian Cuisine We're gonna explore the market next. Walnuts are one of my favorite nuts, one of my favorite foods, and walnuts are essential. absolutely mandatory in the Georgian Cuisine they're used in sauces, they're used in salads, they're used in so many different things, and they grow so many walnuts throughout. Georgia And that's such a cool tip about squeezing into your fingers, seeing the oil come out foreign, so sweet.

Oh man, you just keep chewing and more and more like almost like honey starts coming out of that. Walnut Incredible. This is John Jolly. It's a bit similar with the Capers When the tree is blooming, we collect the flowers and then we are fermenting it.

Oh it's so good. so juicy and salty because I Like how the flowers just kind of absorb that pickle brine. Foreign. oh it might taste.

that seed is that? Okay, so these are coriander and herbs are so essential in Georgian Cuisine something. I Love! Oh all those seeds are amazing. Christo She owns a restaurant into Belisi which we'll actually be eating at later today like she's doing a bit of shopping and she gets some of her ingredients from the market from this Bazaar and then also directly from Farmers We were so busy outside I Kind of forgot there was even an indoor section of the bazaar. but here we are in the indoor section.

yeah we did by a man selling all sorts of different Honeys Straight off the honeycomb you you? Oh wow. So sweet, so much flavor, the wax of the comb. incredible. Then she will prepare for us.

Amazing how cheesy cheese. Wow! So she takes like a very thin cheese skin which will be a wrapper, then adds in some of the crumbled like cottage cheese smears that on top. Then some of the fresh tarragon that we just bought at the market like picks off some of those sprigs of tarragon, go right in and she wraps it up into a triangular like cone. Wow, that's just cheese on top of cheese with a bit of tarragon.

Amazing. Can't wait to try it! Oh wow. Two totally different textures of cheese. We've got the creamy wow, it almost tastes like a cream, the inside, that spreadable cheese and then the outside is like this salty cheese skin and you need that tarragon for the dimension, for the complexity.

Really good. So good to be here with Christo She literally knows everyone and she just respect her. Love her passion for ingredients, for suppliers, for people at the market and for the the food of Georgia is remarkable. The most special logica green Ajika.

and she makes it herself. Everything what you see from a chica's side. it's all her own job you know, like and she is great. She has Amazing.

You've got green Ajika, her legendary green ajika, walnuts, coriander, green chilies, a little bit of oregano that is just a an insanely flavorful General sauce. I Always love going to the local Fresh Market or Bazaar to see the ingredients that go into the cooking and into the food because it's so essential and it's just such a huge part of the culture. and this gives you a foundation to know a little bit, an education about what you're then going to be eating. Tibilisi has always been a Crossroads You can just see in the spice selection things from all over just represented in Georgian Cuisine And so that completes our amazing visit to the Deserters Bazaar here right in the heart of Tibilisi.

Oh man, it was just amazing. We are going to continue with a lot more food on this ultimate tour of tubalisi with culinary Backstreets Foreign and I'm the co-founder with my mom of the place called Tam Taki. It is like a Georgian traditional food that we transformed into the street. So yeah Buffalo is also I Can say one of the favorite things for Georges You take each piece of bread fresh as soon as the order comes in.

Foreign which is beautiful made of buffalo meat and she grilled Those ads on those beautiful garnishing. The sunflower tahini is amazing. the arugula bright and fresh tomato sauce Georgian tomato sauce and then tops it with some of the sumac, onions and a grilled pepper. The best way to eat this is to wrap it up in that fresh bread.

Oh man that is beautiful foreign. The juiciness of the kebabu with that tomato sauce, the freshness of those herbs, the richness of the sunflower tahini, and then you've got the like. the crunch of the onions with that citrusy sumac. so that's the concept.

Everything is sandwiches but just you can taste the quality of the meat. You can taste the quality of the produce. the sausage that she makes. absolutely incredible.

So the next one is suckling pig. Okay next dish yeah it is like a cycling Pig Wow and yeah this is very traditional dish for Georgians only on New Year's so foreign Pig This is like literally an entire roast suckling pig meal. Absolutely beautiful I Love that beetroot and the acidity of that sour plum is amazing. So this is Gibjalia.

Gibjali is also a very traditional appetizer. I Can say it's kind of ricotta kind of texture inside but with mint and from the outside it is like just a thin cheese layer. Another just impressive sandwich. this one's huge.

A whole tomato Georgian tomatoes are some of the juiciest, freshest Tomatoes you'll ever try. Literally an entire tennis ball sized round like package of cheese drizzled with all those sauces. Oh man the garlic. this one is spectacular.

Tomato juice is just non-stop Thank you thank you. Stay in Georgia Thank you thank you. This is the place. Incredible place for modern takes on traditional Georgian food within sandwiches.

So to continue the food tour, where are we going next next is Sofia Vernikova's fantastic to come! The owner of the place is Pioneer of Georgian restaurants Wow and we're gonna eat amazing Georgian dish Chicken it's a special chicken yes Awesome! The signature yellow door there it is Sophia's many kovas Fantastic Duhan Great! So you step into the yellow door gate and immediately it just opens up into this beautiful Courtyard like an oasis. We're in a courtyard surrounded by buildings on all sides. It's so quiet, so peaceful. There's just this lattice covering of grape Vines above.

Tables throughout the courtyard shaded the breeze the natural air. Such a spectacularly beautiful environment. Relaxing, Peaceful. So the restaurant.

the courtyard is actually owned by the National Museum, so that's why you'll notice giant sculptures within the courtyard. Surrounding is traditional Georgian dish with a chicken. so it's a fried chicken and then we put it in the Milky garlicky sauce. hmm has some amazing like herbal spices on it, submerge within that creamy garlic sauce.

not just your average Fried Chicken This is really what you think about when you think about eating in Tibilisi wine is a massive part of Georgian culture. They say wine runs in their veins. Actually before dinner we are gonna go to Vino underground natural wine bar in the cellar. It's all only natural wines.

most of them are made in query which is like traditional the traditional Georgian Way yeah 8 000 years Okay yeah but there are some European style wines but made with the Georgian grapes and the seller itself in this District Every building has the white wine cellars. Yeah, wine tasting was fantastic. Now we are continuing on to dinner. This area of town is absolutely beautiful.

The buildings Monumental buildings, grape Vines everywhere and we are almost to Christo's restaurant which is within one of the Monumental buildings the courtyard. this is the name it calls ESO which literally means Courtyard You are so welcome Mark to my restaurant. You know in Georgia the most important thing is hospitality and we normally say that the guest is a gift from the cut. so you are my guest right now.

Thank you personally mine and you are so welcome Thank you! Let's go! So cool to have this experience at the end! Ezo Christo Who's been taking us around today with culinary back streets showing us around to believe, see her passion and then to be able to end at her restaurant where she has just an incredible Courtyard It's friendly, it just represents to Belisi and we're gonna have a massive Feast to end this entire day to it. Such another just impressive environment. atmosphere shaded by the Big Trees surrounded by the buildings. Would this be residential again or is this like mainly residential or okay okay yes my sister leaves a bath.

Oh okay yeah so amazing. You are my gift for the God So I hope we gonna enjoy the Supra inezo and so what what exactly does Supra mean Literally means tablecloths but it means a big dinner, big fish. And we start with the starters. so these are just the starters.

A lot of a lot of food. A lot of food. So what are some of the dishes that we're starting with? Okay, we have this amazing platter here. So colorful.

I'm gonna go for the eggplant roll that's spinach, cheese roll beetroot leaves with Walnut flour salad thank you and take a piece of the cornbread. The beetroot but leaves actually Walnut paste it's all. The beetroot is amazing. it's so juicy and sweet.

The flour challenge. So we have these flowers pickled but then this is mixed with a salad with herbs with walnuts. again the walnuts. the garlic.

this one has that extra Briny sourness from the pickle. Try some of this tomato cucumber salad looking so vibrant, so fresh That's Just So Fresh So Fresh the herbs in there the Red Onion red basil Georgian Style gulma thank you no shower grape leaves, the minced meat interior that like creaminess on the bottom and then the freshness of the dill delivers. So refreshing, just creamy but again the onions in there, the garlic, the walnuts, the freshness it just like refreshes it. Oh that those beans are so aromatic I could smell it from here and there are America I Cannot wait to try with the cornbread again Rich Hearty beans Oh all the beans are unbelievable.

So creamy, the flavor of fenugreek. This one is a classical which and this guy again he's himself from. Okay okay so he knows the best how to make this all right. Is difficult to eat every day but classical American you can eat all the time.

Okay so again like a tennis ball sized chunk of cheese goes into the center of the dough. then you just very delicate really rolls it out again until it's flat, all that cheese within tucked within the dough and then it's gonna go straight into the oven to bake. foreign I think I've had the most cheese that I've eaten in a long time today in my life. Foreign.

Oh yeah, right out of the oven. The Uzi cheese. oh it's so good. One of the main dishes has arrivedo pork tender beef, thick Walnut sauce pink in color, almost like light foamy, kind of like whipped cream, almost of walnuts.

But then we're ending with a seasonal dish full of tarragon and veal. Oh oh wow, that is so herbal, so sour and refreshing. And then with that beef. oh man wow that wraps up and what an ending to this incredible Georgian food tour of Tbilisi today that spread the variety, the different flavors, the walnuts just like uniting the cuisine was outstanding and today has just been an unbelievable day! Christo She's so passionate she just is so knowledgeable about Georgian food and just her passion her just excitement for the food for the culture of Georgia for Georgians absolutely just a spectacular day into Belisi.

Also, we went on this tour today with culinary back streets who they are. an amazing tour company that focus on authentic food and cultures. 15 different cities where they offer tours and so actually if you are in Tabilisi or one of the cities that they offer tours you can use. I'll have the code in the description box but type in the code migrationology 10 and you can get a 10 discount on any of their tours and again I Would highly recommend them.

Their guides are so knowledgeable and they really take you to places that represent that show the true representation of the authentic food culture in each destination. And I want to say a big thank you for watching! Please remember to give this video a thumbs up. Leave a comment below I'd love to hear from you if you're not already subscribed. Make sure you subscribe now for lots more food and travel videos and we're going to be traveling around! Georgia Eating some amazing food Georgian food and some amazing scenery and locations and sightseeing as well so stay tuned.

More videos coming and big thank you again! Goodbye from Tibilisi and I will see you on the next video. Oh.