The cold season could be the perfect time to try the Georgian pizza called khachapuri, a delicious comfort food still little known in Italy that is also a candidate for the next food trend
THE'winter it is not so far away and we already imagine ourselves sitting in front of a burning fireplace, wrapped in a woolen blanket, holding a steaming cup of hot chocolate and having a good table at the table comfort food, with a rich and enveloping taste, able to make us smile, to warm us up and to give us the necessary caloric intake and the right energy charge. As every year, predictions are made about the new culinary trends coming for the winter season, including those in other countries. Among the many fascinating and delicious exotic and oriental dishes that fall under the category "winter comfort food", this year you bet on khachapuri, a special type of pizza stuffed with cheese, butter and eggs: a traditional Georgian dish. This special focaccia is in fact slowly conquering the people of Instagram and seems to have all the credentials to be one of the next hot food trends coming up.
What is khachapuri, a typical Georgia pizza
This Georgian variant of our pizza consists of a generally boat-shaped focaccia, well leavened and with thick and raised edges and filled with a tasty mix of local fused cheeses (fresh or seasoned) and other ingredients, all covered with an inevitable bull's eye egg positioned at center. The khachapuri is a national symbol dish in Georgia, it has many regional variations, an ancient but simple recipe, and if once it was eaten only during special events or family celebrations, it is currently ubiquitous on the tables and consumed at any time of day , breakfast included. In addition to its goodness and the delicious variety of ingredients used, including butter, yogurt or kefir and some local cheeses including the emeruli (a sort of Greek feta, but of cow's milk) and sulguni (salty and semi-hard), to make khachapuri a perfect winter comfort food is the way it is usually eaten, or warm, freshly baked, buttery and stringy.
According to tradition, the most famous variation of this Georgian pizza (theadjaruli khachapuri) should be eaten with the soft crust dipped in filling, a pleasant ritual very similar to the Mediterranean scarpetta or the French fondue and that makes this dish even more special. One last curiosity: according to the inhabitants of Tbilisi, the khachapuri not only brings people together but also has the power to absorb the mood of those who prepare it and for this it should be mixed, cooked and consumed only when one is happy.
From food trends on Instagram to our tables in winter?
The khachapuri, recognized this year by UNESCO as part of Georgia's cultural heritage, is seeing its popularity grow considerably in recent months. Between 2018 and 2019 some research conducted in different countries highlighted the massive use of hashtag khachapuri within the social platform Instagram, and months ago the "New York Times" even decreed it "dish revelation of 2019. Beyond the media success, this delicious snack is making its appearance in many restaurants around the world, from Turkey to the United States, and many of them expect that its worldwide distribution will reach its maximum peak next winter. All that remains is to wait and see if the khachapuri is part of the Olympus of the next trendy comfort food, as good as it is beautiful and instagrammable.
Photo: khachapuri pizza georgia_Marco Verch Professional Photographer and Speaker.jpg
Photo: Adjaruli_Khachapuri_pizza georgiana_Sandra C.jpg
Cover photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/B23dpFLJBGn
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