August Heat in NYC!

It is August here in New York City, and I have invited a couple of friends over for dinner. My friends love when I cook them a Georgian meal and relish any opportunity to try new dishes. I had pondered what to cook in this hot and humid weather; then decided to prepare vegetables with walnuts (pkhali) and chicken in blackberry sauce---light and summery and goes well with dry chilled white or rose wine. I love rose wines in this weather! They go well with almost everything.

Often unnoticed, an amazing thing about Georgian pkhali dishes is they don’t require butter, oil or any other fat. Pkhali dishes include walnuts, and the oils of walnuts are enough to make pkhali dishes tasty and healthy at the same time. Cooking without fat is healthy, yet one might argue that fat somehow contributes to the taste of the dish, and it certainly does, except when grilling. However, we must consider all foods on balance, as our health depends on respect for our bodies and what we consume.

So take the leap and learn how to cook with walnuts. Georgians combine various vegetables with walnuts and a series of such dishes are called pkhali dishes. You simply add a pinch of chili pepper, fresh cilantro and a few spices and soon you are enjoying a pleasant healthy dish, without butter or oils.

If you care about exploring new cuisines of the world, you will love creating the authentic taste of Georgia in your kitchen. Modern technologies connect us directly and make it possible for us to communicate, share, and care about each other. Georgians place a very high value on friendships. In the Georgian culture, we treat our friends as close family; often friends are even closer and more trusted than relatives. Certain words used in Georgia today to describe close friends include dakali (for female friends) and dzmakatsi (for male friends). These two words literally translate into English as sister woman and brother man.

Chicken in Blackberry sauce, with a slightly tart uplifting taste, is an excellent second dish in this type of hot steamy weather. It will also be a great selection for any romantic dinner. The color of the dish is deep purple.  Remember, Georgians prefer seasonal food, and the blackberries and all food products together with other key ingredients taste best in season. The dish originated from the mountainous region of Georgia called Racha, where my roots are and where my family picked plenty of blackberries during the summer over several generations.

The seasonal nature of Georgian cuisine provides an added dimension to my home country’s recipes. For it extends our pallet beyond a predictable routine. My dinner guests are constantly surprised by the breadth of offerings at Tamada's Table as the seasons of the year pass.

Today’s technology places innovative, native meals within easy reach. So please don’t be intimated by spices or other ingredients in the recipes. They can all be found online at your fingertips. Enjoy the Spinach with Walnuts and Chicken in Blackberry Sauce! All recipes are provided with very accurate measurements. We at Tamada’s Table are here to offer standardized and easy to make Georgian recipes.