MARKETS : Georgia on My Mind

“Every Georgian dish is a poem.” --Alexander Pushkin

No matter what time of day you pass by Tbilisy & Yerevan, you can’t help being lured in by the aroma of bread being baked. Every few minutes the shop’s baker peels a large, flat loaf from the blazing clay wall of a cylindrical oven, using an iron hook on a long pole. The oven, called a tone , is fired up all day, every day. And like its relatives, the Near Eastern tannur and the Indian tandoor, the Georgian version looks very much like an inactive volcano partially submerged in the floor.

The Georgia in question, of course, is not the Peachtree State but a country that used to be part of the Soviet Union.

For centuries Georgian bakers have been making their traditional flat bread, known as shotis puri , the way it’s done here--stretching each loaf by hand, slapping it against the oven wall and piercing the dough to keep it from puffing as it bakes. The baker prepares just a few loaves at a time, propping them up against the tiles at the base of the oven. “We like to sell our bread while it is still warm,” says Rita Davidson who, with her father and husband, owns the business.

Tbilisy & Yerevan sells more than baked goods, though. In its deli cases you find a collection of popular Georgian dishes, including cold chicken with satsivi , a rich walnut sauce. Peppery homemade Georgian-style sausages flavored with marigold petals and tiny Asian eggplants stuffed with a ground walnut-pomegranate filling sit next to khinkali , voluptuous meat-filled dumplings sparked with hot pepper. The khinkali have top-knots that resemble miniature turbans.

Always crowded and filled with warm smells that permeate the outer display area, Tbilisy & Yerevan is a real family operation with assorted brothers and sisters, cousins and aunts baking the breads, making pastries or whipping up a batch of their specialty for the deli case. Explaining the shop’s name, Davidson says: “We also make Armenian-style puri , another kind of flat bread. Many of our customers are Armenian. So we named the shop for the country’s capitals, Tbilisi in Georgia and Yerevan in Armenia.”

Georgian dishes mirror the country’s multifaceted history and its resulting culinary mixtures. Even before it became part of the Soviet Union, Georgia had been under Russian rule since the early 19th Century. This accounts for the several styles of Russian bread and the five varieties of Russian pirozhki sold here. Over the years these have become extremely popular with Georgians.

Georgian cooking has also absorbed influences from the Turks, Arabs, Persians and others who came and went as political power in the region shifted. Extending from the Black Sea coast up into the Caucasus Mountains, the tiny nation has a reputation for exuberantly flavored dishes with generous quantities of fresh herbs, garlic and hot pepper. A warm, in places almost sub-tropical, climate has produced a cuisine and a people that British writer Colin Thubron describes as “dagger bright,” known for their spirited style, independent temperament and incredibly warm hospitality.

Davidson says that this spirit of independence describes her father, Elko Kakiashvili, who was born into a family of bakers and who started the shop. She calls him an Old World person with a New World business sense. Kakiashvili moved his family to Israel in 1969 after the Russians closed down his tie factory in Georgia. “He was making too much money--one person wasn’t allowed to make so much,” Davidson says. To acquire an exit visa, Kakiashvili had to stage a hunger strike in front of an official government building in Moscow.

The bakery and restaurant he opened in Israel was enormously successful. And now that his shop has been open in California for more than a year and he’s gotten a feel for business here, Kakiashvili says he would like to start a small chain. It makes sense, he thinks, because customers come from all over the city to buy Tbilisy & Yerevan’s specialties. The family is now looking for the right spaces in the San Fernando Valley and Glendale for their first branches.

Is L.A. ready for a chain of Georgian bakeries? Probably so.

SHOPPING LIST

BREADS

“Bread is an object of reverence in Georgia,” writes Darra Goldstein in “The Georgian Feast.” Dozens of differently shaped loaves are still common to Georgia’s various regions, from crisp unleavened sheets to breads rich with butter and sugar. Besides the breads from the tone at Tbilisy & Yerevan, there are half a dozen other varieties baked in a conventional oven.

Shotis Puri : Russians call this bread “Georgian lavash, “ because it is baked the same way as its thinner Middle Eastern relative. But shotis puri (called shot at this bakery) is shaped like a slightly elongated snowshoe. One edge of the loaf is usually thicker than the other because the dough hangs sideways on the oven wall as it bakes. At its center, shotis puri resembles an Indian tandoori naan with random marks over its surface, while the two pointed ends are crisp. Children always love the ends, says Davidson.

Shotis puri contains no oil, just flour, yeast, water and salt. If too little salt is used, the dough slides down the sides of the tone and becomes kuti puri , or “crippled bread.”

With its beautiful shape, shotis puri has always been the bread of choice for laying a festive table. Loaves are placed end to end. In the curves, where the two pointed bread ends meet, the many little cold dishes typically set out at a Georgian meal are placed on both sides, creating a beautiful pattern.

Long ago, many Georgian homes had their own tone and grapevine was burned to heat it. Though modern bakers heat their ovens with bricks and electricity as is done at Tbilisy and Yerevan, shot is still always at its peak soon after it’s baked.

Armenian Puri : Slightly thicker than shot, this Armenian-style flat bread is also baked in the tone. It’s a round loaf and, like shot , it is placed whole on the table and diners tear off pieces. In Georgia, Armenian puri and other breads are served with platters of fresh herbs, including several types of basil, fresh coriander, tarragon and arugula. These are staples on the Georgian table to be nibbled with the bread as flavoring.

Khachapuri : “You could call khachapuri Georgia’s national dish,” says Paula Wolfert, whose forthcoming book, “Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean,” will include recipes she developed after her travels in Georgia. Wolfert says every region has its own unique khachapuri. And though it is often called a cheese bread ( khacho means fresh cheese; puri means bread), most versions are better described as a cheese pie. In her travels, Wolfert observed that some khachapuri have a flaky filo-type exterior, other varieties are made with yogurt and leavened with baking powder, while still others are bread-like. In the remote mountains near Ossetia, cooks often add minced greens such as nettles or turnip greens, making a khachapuri rather like a Greek spanakopita.

Tbilisy & Yerevan’s version uses a rich, slightly flaky dough, folded over a mixture of three cheeses. “We use feta, mozzarella and a cheese we make ourselves here called suluguni ,” Davidson says. One of the most beloved Georgian cheeses, suluguni is mild and rich like fresh mozzarella.

The pie is typically eaten for breakfast or a snack, but it is not unusual to find it on the dinner table. Tbilisy & Yerevan bakes so many batches of khachapuri you can usually buy one still warm from the oven.

Conventional Oven-Baked Breads: The typical Russian bread that Davidson calls seri (Russian for “gray”) does get a murky color from its combination of regular wheat flour with high-gluten flour. But the bread’s chewy texture makes it marvelous for toast or sandwiches.

A box-shaped “square loaf,” kirpeach , looks like conventional white bread. But its dense, almost moist interior tastes so rich you don’t really need to spread it with butter. The bread contains no oil or shortening.

Tbilisy makes a hearty whole-wheat black bread in two sizes--a large peasant-style loaf and a smaller rectangular loaf. There’s also a European-style baton-shaped bread, like French bread but with a heavier crumb.

Bulachky and Challah : These two rich breads made with eggs and sugar are slightly sweet and wonderful with tea. Made from the same dough, each has a different texture. The challah , a large braided loaf with raisins, is not as dense as the much smaller bun-sized bulachky (or bulkey in Georgian). The bulkey also comes sliced and toasted--a sort of Georgian version of biscotti.

DELI ITEMS

Chicken With Satsivi : One of the most famous dishes in the Georgian repertoire is braised chicken smothered in a sauce of crushed walnuts, lots of garlic, dried coriander and marigold flowers. Georgia has at least 50 types of walnut sauces, says Wolfert. Some are cooked, like this one; others are simple pastes made from raw ingredients. Though their ingredients seem similar, their varied seasonings make each sauce taste completely different. Chicken with satsivi isn’t a main course; it’s offered along with the many salads that are set out together as the meal begins.

Khinkali : A swirl of twisted dough tops these boiled meat dumplings that are about the size of a tennis ball. When people order them in restaurants the waiter counts the uneaten topknots to assess the bill. In the high mountain villages where khinkali originated, men visit cafes where they while away the time around a plate of dumplings and drink small tumblers of ice-cold chacha (Georgian-style vodka) as a chaser. The drink is the perfect match for the dumpling’s spicy filling.

Tbilisy & Yerevan’s beef-filled khinkali are sold frozen. You cook them in boiling water at home and serve them hot. The shop also makes a potato-filled version without the top knot (in Russia this would be called pelmeni ). These are made from circles of pasta folded around the filling and crimped around the edge; they look like raw empanadas.

Stuffed Eggplant: Firm, tiny Asian eggplants are halved lengthwise, baked and filled with a creamy eggplant-walnut mixture dotted with tart pomegranate seeds. Their seasoning includes khmeli suneli , an all-purpose Georgian spice and herb blend of dried fenugreek, basil, dill, summer savory and mint that has often been likened to the Indian spice mixture garam masala because of its pervasive use in Georgian cooking.

The eggplants are set out at the beginning of a meal and left on the table as more and more dishes follow.

Garlic-Stuffed Tomatoes: Also included in the first batch of dishes served are all sorts of vegetables raw, pickled and cooked in every imaginable way. A wonderful example are the shop’s pickled tomatoes. Their tops are partially sliced off and the tomatoes are filled with minced garlic, parsley and hot pepper. Generous amounts of pepper also flavor the Georgian-style dill pickles, which are whole, lightly cured with dill and intensely garlicky.

Pickled Cabbage: During the cold winter months, Georgians bring color to the table with wedges of cabbage pickled in a seasoned brine along with sliced beets. The beets give the pale cabbage leaves a pale magenta hue. Davidson recommends the cabbage with pirozhki.

Aspic: The gelatin in meat broth that solidifies when it is chilled has never held a great attraction for Americans, but in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, squares or slices of aspic are a favorite hors d’oeuvre, especially in the summer. Pig’s feet are often used to make aspic but Tbilisy & Yerevan prepares beef aspic with garlic and pours it into a small rectangular pan. Serve slices of it with a good mayonnaise--homemade if possible.

Lobio: The Georgian name for all beans--dried or fresh, green, red or white--is also the name of Georgia’s most popular salad, red kidney beans in a walnut dressing. It’s one of those dishes for which every cook has his own recipe. The cook at Tbilisy & Yerevan salts white onions cut into fine strips and squeezes out the bitter juice. Next she sprinkles in juicy pomegranate seeds and tosses them with the beans and onion in a slightly creamy dressing. All the sharp flavors smooth out perfectly when mixed with the bland beans.

Kupati : On weekends, in Georgia’s city markets, farm women bring their sausages from the countryside to sell. Each woman has her own variation on a certain style. To assure the kupati are good and spicy, the sausage maker at Tbilisy & Yerevan uses three kinds of pepper--red, white and black--along with great quantities of garlic. These beef kupati are also generously seasoned with crushed marigold petals and the mysterious-tasting khmeli suneli.

Dry-cured kupati are eaten like salami. The fresh ones, for broiling or frying, are served with rice. And as if the kupati weren’t spicy enough, some people dab on the spicy Georgian condiments ajika or tkemali.

Georgian-style blinchiki (blintzes): These look like the familiar filled crepes from an American deli, but their Georgian-style meat filling has its own pungent character. Blintzes are another item Georgians like to season with a condiment. “We don’t eat them with sour cream,” Davidson points out. The blintzes, which have been sauteed, have a golden, crisp exterior and are ready to re-heat in the oven.

Pirozhki : Russians make many kinds of pirozhki. Some are filled pastry dough and may be fried or baked. One version sold as street food in Russia--even these days--are the deep-fried, elongated dough pockets that come with various fillings. Tbilisy & Yerevan makes five kinds.

For breakfast people usually choose the cheese pirozhki filled with the same mixture as khachapuri , or they might want the pirozhki filled with potato and a touch of cheese seasoned with dill. Other fillings are pickled cabbage sauteed with onions, peppery ground beef or spinach.

Cheburek : These golden-fried Turkoman pastries, about the size of a folded-over dinner plate, come stuffed with meat flecked with onion and hot chiles. Their thin dough is rolled out with a device that looks like an oversized pasta machine, and their fried crust is almost as fragile as won ton skins.

Churchkhela : Stacked in a pyramid on the counter are long, candle-shaped rolls that look like purple sausages. These novel candies are made by stringing walnuts on thread and dipping the whole strand into thickened grape juice. At one time, churchkhela were a handy energy-rich food for soldiers but in homes they’re served in 1-inch slices along with other sweets or cut fresh fruit. They’re similar to the Turkish sucuk and the Armenian sharots.

Tkemali: Few Georgian sauces make use of cream or butter. Instead they are purees of herbs or vegetables enriched with crushed nuts and a well-balanced seasoning. Tkemali , a garlicky, herb-filled sauce made from sour green tkemali plums (or sometimes sour red plums), is the all-purpose condiment--the tomato catsup, you might say--of Georgia. It’s served alongside many foods and added to taste. Davidson tells me that Tbilisy & Yerevan’s tkemali contains hearts of palm. It’s a novel ingredient for this sauce, but perhaps it best mimicks the unavailable tkemali plum. In any case, try this delicious green condiment with blintzes, sausages or plain grilled meats and chicken.

Ajika : The salsa of Georgian food, especially east Georgian food, is a spicy-hot thick sauce made with ground chiles. You dab ajika (still often spelled Russian-style as adzhika ) on cooked rice or sausage, or even use it to perk up soup. Ajika figures in almost every meal, and every household has its own twist on the formula. Some use green peppers, others use red and some add walnuts. Many Georgians like to spread ajika on their shotis puri as though it were jam.

MISCELLANEOUS BAKED GOODS

Russian-style doughnuts look like American jelly doughnuts. Their dough is rich with eggs, almost custard-like, under a frangible, golden exterior dusted with powdered sugar.

Beze : Russians love the melt-in-your-mouth quality of meringue, and apparently Georgians have adopted this favorite sweet. Beze was supposedly borrowed from the French baiser , to kiss. These giant confections are two small mountains of crisp meringue sandwiched together with a coffee cream.

Rose Buns: Spiral-shaped like a cinnamon bun, this delicate coffee cake has cream in its lightly sweetened yeast dough and more cream in its crushed walnut filling.

To complement the cold foods and, of course, the bread from Tbilisy and Yerevan, try stuffed quinces, part of Georgia’s enormous repertoire of cold fruit and vegetable dishes. They have an exotic flavor, but be warned--hollowing out the raw fruits is a real chore. The recipe comes from “The Georgian Feast” by Darra Goldstein.

STUFFED QUINCE 3/4 pound beef sirloin, minced 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon, or 1 teaspoon dried 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried Dash ground coriander Dash ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons cooked rice 6 fresh quinces 2 tablespoons butter 1 clove garlic, minced 1 small onion, minced 2 1/2 cups beef broth 3/4 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots

In large skillet cook beef until just brown. Stir in tarragon, dill, coriander, cinnamon, salt, pepper and cooked rice. Set aside.

Cut 1/2-inch slice off stem end of each quince and reserve to use as “lids.” With very sharp knife, carve out cores to within 1/2-inch of bottom of fruit. Using spoon, remove some of pulp, leaving about 4-inch shell. Reserve pulp from 4 quinces and dice.

In another skillet melt butter and add garlic, onion and diced quince. Saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture softens, about 10 minutes. Stir mixture into cooked meat. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Pack filling firmly into quinces and cover each quince with its own lid. Place stuffed quinces in deep pan and pour beef broth around them. Add dried apricots. Cover and simmer 45 minutes. Serve with broth and dried apricots. Makes 6 servings.

Tbilisy & Yerevan, 7856 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (213) 654-7427. Open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.