Hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day! It's Mark Wiens I'm in Georgia the country and today we are taking a day trip to the Kaketi province region of Georgia. It's known for its wine, for its food for culture and today we are going to eat some things along the drive and then we are going to end up in Talevi which is the capital city. We're going to have some Kinkalis, some famous Georgian dumplings and then after that we'll end up on this beautiful property where we're going to meet up with Chef Takuna, one of the best chefs in Georgia and she's going to cook a couple of dishes for us I'm going to share this entire day trip and all of the food coming up right now in this video. We've been driving for about an hour jumped out of the van.

We're at a place called Varia URI which is famous and uh Cousteau mentioned that every Georgian on the road to Kaketi will stop here because of their freshly baked bread and their sheep cheese which comes from the high in the mountains. You step out of the van you can immediately smell the freshly baked bread and see the piles of cheese which is the oven in which Georgian traditional bread is baking okay also bakeries we call Tony by the name of the oven itself so this would be like a home style, a home style one the side twice size like it but some people would have it in their home. She's going to show us how she makes the bread oh nice and that just goes directly onto the side of the oven. He needs that out.

That's the name of the bread means mother's bread. It's a type of sourdough bread so it's kind of a floppy texture. it's not, it's kind of a wet consistency and she spreads that out almost into like a quite an elongated shape with pointy edges. and then she just like slaps that onto the side of the oven all the way down to the bottom of the coals.

Oh it will cook for 15-20 minutes. Okay, such an amazing ancient art. Step outside from the ovens. All the wheat is drying outside so you can guarantee you're getting fresh bread here.

I Mean they have their own wheat. They grind their own wheat. They make it right in front of you. They serve it hot and fresh.

already foreign. That totally makes sense. The ones at the bottom near the coals finish faster. Mod Luva Wow, look at that bread burning my hand right now.

I Love the shape I Love how it just takes on the the circular edge of that oven. It's just a beautiful thing size of Buffalo horns like and the shape. oh steaming hot. Okay so I'll first just try the the bread as is.

Oh wow yeah the bread is amazing. Gooey and fluffy on the inside, crusty and Smoky on the edges. The Shiner pizza bread is really nice. You can see how fluffy it is on the inside, and I'll try some of that sunflower oil next bottle of fresh Sunflower oil.

Oh Sunflower was amazing. Yeah you just immediately get this liquid sunflower Aroma in your mouth. Okay then I'm gonna try some of the sheep cheese from the mountains here. Oh it's sweating, it's quite a strong cheese.

grass-fed tasting like Mountain tasting. You can tell that it's hearty, it's warm, it's salty, and then finally I have the this is a the same kind of juice I think but with cow. wrap that in and with this bite I do have some some of that leftover drizzle of the sunflower oil. hmm oh that one has a bit of a similar taste, but I think that sheep cheese is a bit stronger.

Now this is a Georgian yogurt do Oney yogurt matzoni. um thick and Rich creamy, buttery, a little more. oh drizzle of that sunflower oil bread is the vessel for everything. You can take some of the yogurt, put it into the bread as well.

scoop that in I Think this is diamond so you're gonna show refreshing an amazing roadside food stop. I Think my favorite thing is just that freshly baked bread with the sunflower oil. That's the Wow! That's the star of the show for me. That sunflower oil is amazingly fragrant.

Great stop! We're on our way. continuing to Kahiti, he drove straight to Talevi, which is the capital and the main city of Kaketi and this entire Province and we are first stopping here in the city to eat some of the dumplings. So what is the name of this place? Uh, the name is Zodiacop and that's it's the best. Really? All right it has Disney fresh and they have this special thing.

it's gonna be specifically King Kali which are the famous Georgian dumplings. but these are specifically King Kali from Kaketi region. King Collies are truly a special type of Georgian dumpling. I mean in their shape in their composition, the way they're pleated and boiled and we're gonna see the process right now.

Look at that soupy meat mixture and traditionally it should have 33 pleats. Beautiful freshly boiled pinkalis very nice and then contrary to what I might have assumed is that I thought King collies were steamed, but in fact they are boiled. so once they're ready, the whole tray goes into the bubbling water. they're boiled and then like literally directly so fresh.

directly onto the plate, directly to the tables. You're getting fresh boiled kinkolis here. they look, they smell delicious, foreign s that they're famous for. Here is the cheese version, which is specifically the Kaketi version.

Cheese with butter. So cool to see how they're made. Thank you! Oh so fresh, so hot! I'm moving outside. Well they actually have a big indoor section as well.

The outdoor section is outside section is really nice, kind of the patio section. Moving outside to eat. thank you And there's definitely some strategy to eating these. So Crystal is going to show us how to eat it first.

it's very hot so and you hold it like this to make a smoke okay drink. you suck the juice out of the dumpling almost like oh okay and you suck the juice out Yes awesome Awesome! What a strategy it makes the beautiful handle like a mushroom. You're holding it by the stem, you can see just how chunky they are and I love that strategy. You can see the soup and the juices of the meat just kind of jiggling around.

They look like they're really doughy and like thick wrappers but actually the the where the the pocket of it is actually not that thick of a wrapper that most of the dough ends up on that that handle so it's really nice and thin and delicate. That's amazing. Oh that bite of salty meaty soup is incredible. The other move is to sprinkle on pepper.

I'm gonna sprinkle pepper on okay and then now we're ready to dig into the meatball on the inside. Um oh so good. The meat is tender, it's so juicy. maybe some onions in there, you know with that sprinkle of pepper? Yeah and you get to the bottom and you can choose to either eat the stem or not.

But that's like a really thick piece of dough so that would be the most filling part for sure. but it's kind of good at the same time you can. Yeah, like Crystal was saying, you can count them at the end to see how many you ate and then the Cha-Cha rule number two: you don't eat gingali without just a drinking. It's a must.

It's a must! Okay Cheers Cheers Oh oh and that's I Think it's made from the is it the grape skins? Yes oh it's like a very strong liquor, but it's actually sweet. Burns A little bit going down, but it does pair well with those kangalis. Oh nice. the cheese ones.

So same strategy from the beginning. Mm-hmm melted butter? You might and that's going to load into the cheese dumpling. two types of cheese in here like a cottage cheese and then the the Silguni is more of like a stretchy cheese rattle that around, get the juices flowing, saturate it with that melted butter. Oh wow.

so rich. the crumbly cottage cheese. the the cheese Pole from the sogunu cheese. a little more pepper on there I Love just how chunky and Hearty King College are and yet they're kind of delicate at the same time foreign.

a little more pepper on the inside. okay I like the meat ones the cheese ones. They're really good too, but a little bit like rich and heavy. Just a 10 minute drive from the city and we've come out here to this beautiful property overlooking the South Caucasus Mountains This is one of the birthplace one of the motherlands of wine.

There's been evidence of wine in this region for 8 000 years and we are here because there is a chef one of the most important chefs in Georgia who is Chef Takuna and she has a restaurant that I believe is quite new here on this property. Here in this beautiful place and so we're going to meet her. She's going to cook a couple of dishes for us and it's just an amazing Countryside Retreat Very nice to meet you. Very nice.

Oh it's a beautiful place here. We have 22 hectares. oh yeah okay of the land with Seven Lakes and this was my dream. you know I have a small line yard live in Tuscany but I end up with Karetian guys So I am beautiful and I made some piece of Tuscany and which is very similar you know even the house? Yes and this is this the influences What? I used to have so uh not hustle nuts.

Oh wow. one hectare of the vegetable garden. uh 200 different kinds of the fruits like 100 different kinds of fruits. like only we have only 20 kinds of the wild plums.

okay different kinds of plums. So and this is most beautiful fig tree. so wow wow that's fine and these are the um good wow that is amazing. It is so sweet and juicy.

um like there were yellow sweet? um oh really really sweet. It's always along with grapes. Is it known for fruit or nuts? or it's like a here? the the Earth is unbelievable. You know you really can plant anything and it grows like even without the irrigation system.

nothing better than fruit right off the tree. The cooking Paradise All right. so we're gonna start with kind of a mid-afternoon lunch dinner. She's absolutely amazing.

So much passion I Love her philosophy as well, where she's focusing her food on the natural ingredients on produce, on just simplistic cooking but using best quality ingredients from the land. Regional locality we our lunch okay wait, very beautiful Pet nut s perfect pairing. yes yes that's so refreshing and crisp. And of course Georgia and also specifically the Kaketi region is known for their wine throughout.

Georgia 8 000 years of history of wine, the birthplace, the motherland of wine. I'm gonna try this. um a compound butter I think she she said thank you oh delicious pearl of the Georgian Cuisine yes and the Kachapuri the legendary tomato Carpaccio Heirloom tomato Peaches on top uh dressing and oh it looks incredible. entire steak, slice of tomato on the bottom there.

oh the tomato is amazing and then with that acidity paired with the sweetness of the peach es thank you very much. WoW This is like straight from the garden. Wow! the zucchini Carpaccio with zucchini flowers and inside is this fresh naduri nadur is like a ricotta with some green igam. Ajika is like a Georgian condiment with lots of green herbs, green peppers and the garlic.

So really good. They're getting really fresh. the cheese, the herbs in there. Another beautiful dish.

Herbs vegetables yeah very nice and flowers on top. all from the garden. Really good. Has that acidity to it, a nice juicy saltiness.

The stems kind of had a little bit of a tough leathery texture which is really good and that's to pair with this beautiful Amber um pearl of the Kahitian cooking. the Talma uh uh. meat wrapped in the wine leaves with some yogurt sauce and then the reduction of the bones. what we're using them with that creamy yogurt and with the the bone sauce meatiness.

oh that's what makes it. oh it's sugar. what's up the Amber yeah. This is also my love for the Asia pork belly with some Hoisin oh nice Wild Greens and the peach and the plum sauce on the top.

Oh yeah, the pork belly. she said a little bit of Asian touch with some hoisin sauce. There's some crispy onions or shallots and then looks like some peach or a fruit in there. Fatty pork.

Oh nice. Oh just melt in your mouth. Wow. The fat of that pork belly dish completely liquefied and again focused on the fresh vegetables.

Crisp and vibrant. Yeah, the vegetable tastes quite a bit like a Swiss chard. There you go. Really quite smooth and sweet, a little bit dry.

very nice. Yeah it goes right very well. Together with this this pork and Mike I got this beautiful entire fried chicken with the crispiest skin. It's so golden.

Oh that skin is amazingly crispy. This is no this is the baked peaches with the buffalo cream. so and very good. It's like a happy end now.

Happy end will come. Yeah very fruity. uh sweet fruity baked peaches with some I think some nuts on top, some buffalo cream on the bottom. Beautiful! Wow this is perfect.

Really good. The foamy buffalo cream, the walnuts on top. Cha-Cha Oh when you drink Cha-Cha always cha -cha and we call it especially at the end of meals. yeah it's it's a it's even uh not a drink.

this is the Holly drink so this absolutely and it's very good for digestion and it's also very good for your mood because it makes you happy so it's like okay and it's always for happy end. Okay thank you for an amazing meal I Hope you enjoyed yes a little like yeah wow yeah it is easy to drink very smooth and it's natural. It takes all this like a bitterness and gives the natural sugar and so gonna end this video Today here in the afternoon the beautiful evening of kraketti within the grape Vines and overlooking the South Caucasus Mountains This was a beautiful day and what an ending! Thank you to Chef Takuna for sharing with us this amazing place. The amazing food I Love how the food was produce driven, locality driven.

That's what stood out the freshness Georgian Food yet with a modern Progressive kind of twist to it and Chef Taekuna's own style and yet still truly foundationally Georgian Food And I Want to say a huge thank you to Christo from Culinary Backstreets who took us on this tour today. They focus on highlighting authentic food and then the amazing people behind that food. They do offer tours in other cities as well and I'll have their Link in the description box below. but also if you do take one of their tours, be sure to use Migrationology 10 for a 10 discount and again thank you to Culinary Back Streets for arranging this and then finally we are traveling around the country of Georgia There will be some more amazing food and videos that you can check out so be sure to check that out.

and I'll have that link in the description box below and I Want to say a big thank you to you for watching this video. Please remember to give it a thumbs up. Leave a comment below I'd Love to hear from you and if you're not already subscribed, make sure you subscribe now for lots more food and travel videos. Goodbye from Georgia Caceti and I will see you on the next video.

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