Georgian Food. My First Sight.

Recently I had the opportunity to try a different food, from a different place. Food from the Ex-Soviet Republic of Georgia.

Georgian food is particular. is very rich but with strong influence from Russian, Turkish and other foods from Caucasian mountains.

I visited already twice the restaurant called Suliko. You can check more in the web page http://suliko.ca/en/

One of the first dishes I tasted was "Chanakhi". A traditional Georgian dish with lamb stew, it has also tomatoes and potatoes.

The dish behind the Chanakhi is cabbage pickles marinated with beetroot.

Georgian food uses meat. The options are beef, chicken, lamb and pork.

Khinkali is a Georgian Dumpling. Can be filled with meat, cheese, potatoes or mushrooms. I had a mixed of Khinkalis filled with different kinds of meat.

The following picture has a mixed of foods:

 
The Dish behind is Khachapuri. Is a traditional cheese filled Bread, There are other options filled with Meat or spinach. The food in front is "Lula Kebab" made with lamb.

To finish this first experience I had Georgian Wine.

Georgian food is much more complex than what I exposed here. So for sure there are more tasting opportunities yet to come and it is very possible I will post at least one more time about the food of this part of the world.

Chinese New Year in 2017!

The Chinese New Year was celebrated on Saturday January 28^th and this year corresponds with the year of the Rooster. This special moment, is celebrated visiting family and friends, with good food, good company and with very old traditions. This is perhaps the most popular public holiday in China. 

In the web page http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/chinese-new-year-food.htm there is a list of special foods eaten during this celebration. To mention some we have Dumplings, Spring rolls, longevity noodles, Sweet rice rolls. 

In Toronto, a very famous restaurant called "Mandarin"  has been celebrating this great event with a festival of Dumplings, that will last till February 28th.  I went to visit this place and enjoyed a great time tasting different kinds of Dumplings with other kinds of Chinese foods. 

The word for Dumplings in Chinese is "Jiaozi" (饺子). History says that the origin of Dumplings begins with Dr Zhang Zhongjing, who lived aprox 1800 years ago. He noticed that many people's ears were frostbitten. He decided prepare some food and wrap in dough skin some ingredients that are known as "Wamers" in Chinese Medicine. He gave them the shape of an ear and called them "Jiaoer" (娇耳) or "Tender Ears". This article was read in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi and in other pages. 

It was a surprise to see in the buffet another traditional and rare delicacy of the Chinese cuisine: 1000 years egg. This Delicacy is made preserving Duck, chicken or quail eggs. 

 The 1000 years eggs, known in Chinese as "Pidan" (皮蛋). It is inside the spoon surrounded by pickles. Outside the spoon we have seaweeds and Mangoes.