გამარჯობა (hello) and welcome to the Tamada’s Table. I was born and raised in Tbilisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia. From an early age, I learned how to combine healthy and nutritious ingredients to make delicious Georgian dishes. These experiences shaped my belief that food should be delicious and healthy, which is a perfect description of Georgian cuisine. My upbringing, combined with a 25-year career in international affairs and development, influenced my role as an advocate for high-quality, affordable and nutritious food for everyone.
Two things triggered the birth of the Tamada’s Table.When I moved to New York City over a decade ago, I gained two sizes in one year. When I looked into this, I found that most new arrivals to the U.S. gain on average 10 to 20 pounds in the first year. I delved into issues around food and nutrition to find out that cheap, fatty and processed food with sugar and additives impacts weight and health. This confirmed the idea of the Tamada’s Table for home cooking.
The second spark was the movie Julie & Julia where I learned about Julia Child’s effort to adapt French cuisine to the American market. I fell in love with her cookbook and was even bold enough to cook Coq au Vin for my French friends who loved it. At the time I was fully devoted to my work in international affairs when friends I invited over for Georgian dinners started asking me for the recipes. These experiences, along with the increasing popularity of Georgian food, prompted the idea of Tamada’s Table for home cooks.
It took me almost three years to review, research and test many recipes from the ancient land in my New York kitchen, which my mother thinks is too small and my New York friends think is too big. As much as we love eating out, nothing compares to a homemade meal. Today, I eat what I cook, I’ve lost weight and I feel great.
My kitchen literacy started at an early age under the supervision of my mother. For women of my generation cooking was a necessary skill. In traditional Georgia, moreover, eating out was not a way of life until very recently when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, western ways penetrated many spheres of life, including dining out. My mother still prefers home-cooked meals to the fanciest restaurant. In her generation, there was an explicit social rule that women did not dine out, and the few existing restaurants served mostly parties of men. Home cooking was also more affordable for typical middle class families who lived from paycheck to paycheck. Thus, the home cooking was entirely left to women, while men worked as chefs in traditional Georgian restaurants.
Growing older, I spent more and more time in the kitchen, learning methods and techniques of cooking Georgian food. First, I embarked on baking and learned how to make dough for delicious cheese bread khachapuri, which is a kind of Georgian pizza. Georgians are the nation who like to entertain and who place a special value on human relations and ancient traditions of hospitality. Guests often come unexpected, and such simple, peasant style flat cheese breads are quick and easy to make. Then I proceeded with vegetable dishes, learning how to combine spices, vinegar, chili pepper, garlic and fresh herbs that make Georgian food so unique. Soups were easy as I already knew the basics of cooking. My father was especially persuasive for me learning how to make his favorite charcho soup. Finally, I graduated to meat dishes and famous Georgian stews.
My family house was only few minutes from the Desertirebis Bazaar, the city’s biggest farmers’ market in Tbilisi, which lavishly supplied the capital with organic fresh food. Peasants from nearby villages would bring the bounty of their produce to sell at several greenmarkets in the two-story building. The farmers typically arrived from the countryside early in the morning by train. Experienced market shoppers like my mother took a certain delight in slowly strolling around the market for several rounds before identifying and purchasing what caught their fancy. Sampling the wares, exchanging banter with farmers, and negotiating prices was the most enjoyable elements of the market experience. I often accompanied my mother to the market and learned how to pick the freshest products, such as cheese, meat, vegetables, and fruit.
During the harsh years of the early ‘90s when the Soviet Union collapsed, the newly independent States were left with no resources to deal with the lack of food, water, electricity, heat and employment and basic food items disappeared from the groceries, I learned how to make preserves. They were critical, especially in harsh winter months, to survival. My daughter liked pickled peppers, and every autumn my family and I engaged in making various preserves, pickling tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers. Boiled potatoes, bean dishes and various pickled preserves became our food for months. And in the best of Georgian tradition, we still had guests coming to enjoy the warmth of the wooden stove along with good laughter from the sharing of our daily stories of survival. Georgians never lose their upbeat attitude and sense of humor.
I continued cooking when I moved to New York City over a decade ago. Even rigorous graduate studies at School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University did not stop my favorite cooking and inviting friends over.
During an average week, I usually cook peace, knead human rights and sprinkle spices on international policies to make them people friendly. We, Georgians, like spices and chili pepper, which became Georgian staple, along with corn, beans, tomatoes and bell peppers, despite their foreign origins. Yummy, adds so much passion to the dish. On my evenings and weekends I cook Georgian food, entertain friends and enjoy long walks in the New York parks. Excellent excising and stress relaxation!
One more tip: coming from the country known for its centenarians, I believe the main trick is to respect food. A simple meal does not mean a bad meal. Available studies on centenarians in Georgia show that their diet is typically simple: a piece of bread, homemade cheese, yogurt, fresh vegetables and a lot of seasonal herbs. It is also true that they tend to have a lot of fresh air in stress-free living environments.
Another smart tip is to cook and enjoy food with family and friends. The social aspect of food is at the core of Georgian culture. Georgians do not like to eat alone. There is even a saying in Georgian “მარტოხელა კაცი ჭამაშიც ცოდოა”, which means “even more pity the lonely man when he eats alone”.
What can be better than delicious food, good wine to make a toast and exciting conversation with your family and friends! In Georgia toast making is an ancient tradition. გაუმარჯოს (gaumarjos) means cheers and is derived from გამარჯვება (gamarjveba) victory. May you be victorious in all of your doings!
I am here to share smart tips and methods on how to make delicious dishes from the other Georgia in your everyday kitchens. New skills, new knowledge, new experience-we will learn them all together. გაუმარჯოს!