Dispatch from Georgia ...
Travels through a country bordering Russia, thence to paradise; a new spirit to taste, book recommendations, and fun links ...
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More than ten years ago, Ann was on a University of Iowa writing-program trip to Turkmenistan, and one of the diplomats there told her that Georgia, in western Asia, was a hidden gem. Ann often compares her brain to a dryer’s baffle, the lint collector, gathering any number of random ideas. She never forgot what she’d been told.
Ann began her adult life as a professional traveler, and she hasn’t stopped. One of our dreams was to visit St. Petersburg together, because we knew of its beauty and one of our literary heroes, Nabokov, grew up there. After the murderous autocrat of Russia (dead and imprisoned journalists, dead political foes), invaded Ukraine, our hope of seeing that city died.
Ann determined to get us to Georgia before that country, sandwiched between Russia on its northern border, and Turkey-Armenia-Azerbidjan on its southern border, is cut off.
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“If Ukraine Loses, We’re Next” …
We took two solo tours and one group tour: a food tour on our arrival in the capital, Tbilisi, which as ever gave us an overview of the culinary traditions, and also helped us to navigate the city; a group wine tour; and a cultural tour to see the most important historical sites of the country, including the Chronicle of Georgia and the site of the original capital, Mtskheta, where Christianity first took hold around 300 AD.
Our guide for the latter, Zezva, 34, said those words above, “We’re next.” As we drove to the sites, passing the industrial housing outside the current capital, all balconies strewn with drying laundry, a vestige of the Soviet era, we told him that many friends advised us not to travel to Georgia.
Zezva shurgged and said, “You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow.” He was quiet for a moment then said, “It is no gift, living next to Russia.”
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Our guide for the food tour, Luka, 28, echoed this as well. He is soon to be married but he said, “I can’t plan five years ahead—who knows where we’ll be?”
I asked, “Are you afraid of Russia?”
He looked at me as if to say, “You need to ask?,” but he just said yes.
The history of Georgia, he said, is a history of invasions. A central stop on the spice trade route, it has long been of great geopolitical import. Surely Putin hungers for Georgia next. The Georgian government may desire ties to Russia, but the people surely don’t. They want to remain free and independent.
The Food of Georgia!
But the food of Georgia is delicious! Everything we tasted was a pleasure.
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First, the bread filled with cheese, khachapuri. This bread is served everywhere and it is fabulous. A piece of dough is rolled into a disc the size of a big skillet. A pile of crumbled cheese is put in the center (typically sulguni, imeretian, and mozzarella). The dough is then folded up into what looks like a giant khinkali (the famous dumplings, below), then rolled out into a disk again, brushed with a mixture of egg yolk and sour cream, topped with more cheese and baked. More satisfying and delicious than any NYC pizza I’ve had (dangerous words, I know, but there it is). I’ve added a video at the end of this letter showing how it’s made.
The vegetables, aside from that delicious eggplant above, are often thoroughly cooked—spinach, leeks, carrots and a plant new to us, ekala—then tossed with a walnut dressing and served at room temperature.
And the dumplings! The famous Georgian dumplings called khinkali. Typically they’re filled with beef and pork (the best), but you can also find them filled with mushrooms as well as with cottage cheese.
One of our favorite dishes was what they call BBQ pork, chunks of pork (rib, belly, shoulder), cooked over coals and served very chewy with raw red onion and a green, sour-plum sauce. A third ubiquitous dish we tried is roasted chicken in a soupy white garlic sauce.
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Very garlicky and very delicious.
What we’re drinking …
… in Georgia. Wine! Never have we enjoyed the wine of a country so much. In France or the U.S. you expect great wines. But you can also get a lot of crappy wines. In Georgia, no matter how inexpensive a wine, it was fascinating and haltingly good. Ours was just an introduction, as Georgian wines are scarce in the States. Also, winemakers use more than 80 varietals—you could spend years becoming expert in this one country’s wines.
It’s argued that Georgia is the cradle of wine making, where grape juice was first fermented and aged in clay vessels buried in the ground. Some wines are still made this way.
And what do they do with the leftovers of the winemaking process? Of course, they distill them into a spirit they call chacha. It is better than French eau de vie, better by far than grappa. And because of the variety of grapes, they have an astonishing variety of chachas.
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Chacha can be mild or high test, anywhere from 24% ABV to 80% ABV. The below chacha is 76% ABV, which Luka suggested we throw back in one go, after he offered the Georgian toast, Gaumarjos!, and we followed with Jos! Jos! Jos!, which means victory and triumph!
Final thoughts on Georgia…
We read a lot about Georgia before going, but you cannot come close to understanding a place, especially one so ancient and complicated as Georgia, without putting your feet on the ground and talking to the people who live there.
Georgia’s story is one of perpetual invasion, as I said, by Mongols, the Ottoman Empire, Persia and, in 1801, Russia, which ruled over Georgia until 1917. After the Bolshevik Revolution, Georgia was free and independent, until Russia invaded again five years later, in 1922, and took over. With the collapse of the USSR in 1991, Georgia was left with little—no cash, no electricity, little food (like Cuba). These were the “dark 90s.” Today, while not thriving (we were told there was no middle class here), it is nonetheless strong and should remain free.
Most of all, we felt its fragility, the daily uncertainty. But Georgians are proud of their country and their traditions, their food and their wine; they are life loving and friendly, and their land, when you see past the dreary Soviet remnants, is truly beautiful. See it before you can’t anymore.
Book contest winners …
In the last newsletter, I announced I would be giving away three signed copies of my new (first) young adult novel, If You Can’t Take the Heat, about a privileged 16-year-old football star who breaks his leg and finds work in a kitchen that, along with first love, changes his world. Congrats to all who offered their favorite YA! Fascinating that all three chose classics! I’ll reach out separately but feel free to email me, michael at runlman dot com.
Winners:
Laura Conrad, who chose Little Women (you may not think of this as YA, but Ann read it in second grade and wept with astonishment and sadness to find out, SPOILER, that Beth dies—so yes, YA).
WitloofNYC, A Wrinkle In Time (I read in 5th grade and adored this book).
Terry S, A Catcher in the Rye. Hear hear.
What we’re reading …
I read Edna O’Brian’s The Country Girls, O’Brien’s first, published in 1962 and promptly banned for its frank sexuality. She’s a treasure, and 94 years old! And I’m now midway through James Baldwin’s 1956 novel Giovanni’s Room, frank in its depiction of bisexuality and social alienation. I daresay Baldwin could only have published this while living in France.
Over to you Ann!
I am a huge fan of Tana French’s Dublin squad books, but not as sanguine about her stand-alones. Maybe that’s why I somehow missed The Searcher when it came out in 2021. When I heard everyone raving about the sequel, The Hunter, I had to read the first one, and a long flight from JFK through Paris to Tbilisi was the perfect opportunity. A retired Chicago cop moves to rural western Ireland and gets wrapped up in a missing person’s case. Rich with its Irish setting and lots of rain, this mystery was simply a fantastic read. Cant wait to read the next one.
I had planned on taking two very fat books on this trip, but couldn’t fit them both in my suitcase. So I spent a lovely hour browsing Three Lives & Company, our neighborhood indie bookstore in the West Village. There I found My Last Innocent Year, by Daisy Alpert Florin, newly out in paperback. Lucky me! I loved this book. Isabel has one semester left at her prestigious college when two sexual experiences—one with a student, the other with her professor—force her to reevaluate everything she believes about herself and the world around her. Unforgettable.
On deck: Cursed Bread and My Murderer.
What we’ve been watching …
Links we’ve loved …
The woman who earned her doctorate before she could legally vote. (NYTimes)
And speaking of uncommon doctorates, Vermont State University bestowed one on a cat! (Washington Post)
Is gas station dining becoming a thing? We have our West Village Mobile station selling fabulous smash burgers. … Now this, in Brooklyn? (Eater)
In the last Below 14th St. newsletter, I wrote about Jonathan Waxman of
(from Ruth’s substack, La Briffe).
Barbuto. The novelist Helen Schulman made sure I didn’t miss this shot of him from 1986 with the esteemed
A Michigan woman lives for more than a year inside a rooftop grocery store sign. (USA Today)
The Harry Potter generation is now getting married—and guess who delivers the rings? Hoot! (NYTimes)
And we have just arrived in wonderful in Tuscany for Ann’s Spannocchia Writers’ Workshop! The paradise I noted in the subhead. The next one is scheduled for November 2025. It fills up fast—more info on the above link if you might want to sign up.
Or read her substack!
And finally …
In Georgia, I videoed a woman making the country’s famous cheese bread. Fascinating. She basically makes a giant dumpling, like their khinkali, then flattens it out. I don’t know why the cheese isn’t pressed out in the rolling process!
And that’s all for this week’s newsletter! Thanks for reading. If you liked it, please consider subscribing, or best of all, become a paid subscriber. Feel free to heart this or leave a comment or question. Ann and I love to hear from you. Have a great weekend!
—Michael
Absolutely Loved this edition! especially the info on Georgia, its food & wine! I’ve been to StPetersburg & although it is beautiful with its extravagant palaces,history & major Art .. Georgia looks just as interesting! Moscow was a bit dreary with lots of telephone wires everywhere.. only the gold domes were memorable
Thanks for all this info on Georgia! Carole
Michael, you need to add your Georgia travel notes as you did for Skye! I’ve used those for our trip to Scotland in September!