This is my application for the contest Phone Photography Contest - #127 [New avatar of your favorite photography contest] by @untilwelearn
On Wednesday, my son, his wife, and I attended a Georgian cuisine master class. I've already been to this kind of event 2 times, so I thought I'd just have fun there with my son. But it turned out that I wasn't quite right. I saw in the program that the master class will not be taught by the previous teacher. Last 2 times, there was a woman who knows the culture of Georgia well. This time there was a young chef from a local restaurant. He has a different vision for Georgian food and its preparation.
As in previous times, we had to prepare 3 dishes - salad with crispy eggplant, khachapuri in Adjarian style and khinkali. Who knows what it is? ;) In common with the previous salad were only tomatoes and onions. We cooked the eggplants differently this time, we caramelized them in sweet chili sauce. The fact is that the young man cooked dishes in terms of restaurant serving, and not as they do at home. Is that a good thing or not? It's just different, but it's also good.
Friends, who knows how to make crispy zucchini? I can do it in different ways now. The simplest, traditional way: Soak the eggplant in salted water for 15 minutes to avoid bitterness, then cut the eggplant into cubes, roll in starch, let dry and then deep fry. This time, we dipped eggplant slices in soy sauce, then rolled them in cornstarch. The teacher insisted on corn starch, although in my experience potato starch is better. Next, there is frying in oil so that the eggplants become a little stiff. And after that, we also fried them in a heated sweet chili sauce. These are variations of the chef. Where did you get this sauce from in Georgia in ancient times?
What is khachapuri in Adjarian? Actually, it's like a 4 cheese pizza, only in the shape of a boat. And after they take this boat out of the oven, they add a piece of butter and an egg yolk. The three of us ate one "boat" right at the master class, and took 2 khachapuri home. By the way, baking cannot be heated in the microwave, it becomes rubbery and loses its taste because moisture comes out of it. You need to use an oven or an air grill.
Each nation has its own dishes of dough and minced meat. There are some differences in cooking and size, but the essence is the same everywhere. Instead of minced meat, there may be another filling. We also used cheese and mushrooms as a filling.
The teacher made the minced meat and dough blanks in advance, we only twisted the khinkali ourselves. This is also not an easy task, but I already have a little experience.
The group consisted of 11 people. It was fun, especially modeling khinkali. Not everyone could do it. By the way, my son likes to cook. He has a signature dish, lasagna, and oatmeal. Now he's going to cook an eggplant salad for his wife. I gave them eggplants from our garden.
The master class turned out to be fun, the evening flew by quickly. The children were in high spirits. But all good things come to an end, but the memory remains.
Thanks for reading...
Text & Photography by @apnigrich
With love @apnigrich
Good luck and have fun
