I have been wanting to get to this bazaar and today is the day. I have a few things I need to do early to get ready for Thanksgiving and leave for Bruges (on Friday) before I head off to the bazaar.
The Agrohub is my go-to grocery store. Very close to the apartment and has a great selection. FYI: we can’t find tofu in Georgia though. What’s up with that?You can buy regional wines right from the vat at Agrohub.And in plastic bottles. This saperavi qvevri was 31 GEL. That’s about $12 a bottle for us.
Food is integral to Georgian life and culture, so what better place to experience this than the most vibrant food market in Tbilisi. The cuisine is fiercely regional and locally grown/slaughtered/brewed/prepared/ pickled ingredients feature prominently in most recipes. And all of them can be bought here.
I met Keti at one of the entrances to Dezerter Bazaar.Everything was so fresh. We kinda ate our way through the bazaar.Georgian bread is called puri and is traditionally baked in a deep circular clay oven called a tone. Traditional bread, especially the long pointed bread called shoti puri, is very popular and usually served with every meal.This was kinda gross to watch. Not for me. ; )Now we are talking. Cheese, cheese and more cheese.Gebzhalia. For preparing you’ need fresh cheese—Georgian sulguni. To make the filling, chop fresh mint and (a kind of) cottage cheese or ricotta. Add filling to sulguni thin slice and roll. Voilà, gebzhalia, usually served as a starter. It was delicious. Sulguni cheese is a tad salty.Last stop, supra. Georgian salad—cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, parsley, cilantro and, of course, walnuts with a sunflower oil drizzle; shoti puri and lobiani. Spices for the bread. And wine—a homemade local village red. Keti digging in.As I left the bazaar, I caught a beautiful evening sky.
Dream to Travel from NCM 