Hosting a friend's birthday

Greetings friends!
I had the pleasure of hosting a very good friend of Mine, Nell E., along with a few of her friends at my home to celebrate her birthday via a wonderfully pleasant evening of Georgian dining and wine. The following is a description of the evening by Nell. Thanks Nell!

"I was recently lucky enough to be invited to an incredible Georgian feast at the home of my friend Tatiana. While I always eat delicious home cooked food at Tatiana's house, to have the opportunity to eat Georgian food in New York City made this meal even more interesting and special.
 
Tatiana began by serving us three vegetable pkhali dishes- eggplant rolls (Nigvziani Badrijani), carrots (Stapilos Pkhali) and spinach (Ispanakhis Pkhali) with walnuts, along with chvishtari, a sophisticated corn cake, originating in Svaneti, an area high in the mountains of northwestern Georgia. For six months of the year, Svaneti is inaccessible and covered with ice and snow so access to grain is limited. Tatiana explained that pkhali are vegetable dishes which use walnuts in combination with herbs, garlic, chili pepper, and spices, and they are a signature of Georgian cuisine.  She also introduced us to an amber wine that comes from Georgia. It is an interesting cross between white and red.  Toake Georgian Amber wine, the white grape juice is not only left in contact with the skins, but also the seeds, and the ripest stems as well. This adds tanins and makes the wine more stable. When I researched this later I came across this interesting description of the process: http://wakawakawinereviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/georgianorangewine.jpg
 
The main course came next. Tatiana made Beef Stew Kharcho. Tatiana told us that Kharcho is part of every Georgian homemaker’s repertoire.  The word kharcho or kharsho derives from Georgian verb kharshva, which means “to boil.”  What makes Kharcho stand out to me is the use of walnuts to thicken the broth, and Khmeli Suneli, a spice mix of blue fenugreek, coriander, and marigold (along with some other more common spices).
 
Along with the Beef Stew Karcho, Tatiana fed us Soko Ketsze, a decadent mushroom dish. The mushroom caps are filled with grated sulguni cheese which is then melted and browned within the cavity of the mushrooms. So delicious!
 
Georgian cooking doesn't really include a lot bake desserts. We had some fruit and some chocolate, but really we were so satisfied with all the savory courses, who needs dessert?!"  -Nell E.

May you all take the steps to finding time to enjoy both food, wine and hospitality that is Georgian

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