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Georgian Mushroom Khinkali, the Dumpling From a Country Full of Surprises
The country of Georgia is a gorgeous place to visit if you’re able, but the next best option is making these cheerful vegan mushroom dumplings
On a mountain overlooking Tblisi, an imposing statue of a woman towers. In one outstretched hand, she holds a bowl. In the other, a sword. I asked my Ana, my interpreter, about her. “That is Mother Georgia,” she replied. “She represents the people of Georgia. First, she offers you the bowl of wine. If you refuse her hospitality, she kill.” She shrugs with alarming nonchalance. “Here, it is normal.” I make a mental note to accept any and all hospitality offered to me.
Fortunately, even as a vegan, this isn’t difficult in Georgia. They understand plant-based food and offer it in most places to eat. Just ask for “fast” food — not junk food but the opposite, very healthy, simple dishes without animal products, made for people on religious fasts. They use local, in-season food: walnuts, aubergines (eggplant), beans, mushrooms and pomegranate featured a lot when I was visiting in the winter.
Tbilisi is a beautiful, culturally vibrant city. It has very wide streets, lined with glass skyscrapers, banks of tower blocks, and old traditional buildings with crumbling stucco in shades of soft green, blue and mellowed pale orange brick, with lovely big carved balconies. There are lots of inviting cafes, bars and restaurants. There are also imposing national museums, an opera house and a national theatre as well as the many churches and monasteries the country is famous for. Not far in the background are the encircling mountains.
Which of these beautiful mountains surrounding us would my interpreter recommend for an easy and picturesque hike? She stared at me, brow furrowed, looking confused. “You know, go for a walk? Up the mountain?” I elaborated, wondering if we were losing something in translation. “My granddad takes walks in the mountains,” she announced, still looking shocked. Were we not urbanites, sophisticates from London? Why would we undertake such an old-person, peasant activity? No, if we wished to go up a mountain, for some reason, we should take the cable car. And the mountain we should go…
