Cafe Culture and Georgian Cuisine, Red Wine and Khinkali

The 2022 summer goes on, and so does my street cafe dining, and the summer has been pretty warm so far in Moscow, especially in the second half, about a month already with temperatures at about 30C, which is conducive to cafe culture and in fact makes it imperative to stop at street cafes, at least in my experience, especially if the place has a sun tent or something.

It wasn't today; but the order of the day when it was was some 500 ml of Georgian red wine...

And some khinkali, a kind of meat-stuffed dumplings, traditional Georgian, very tasty when they are good, and not so when there aren't.

These are cooked ones.

And the other three are cooked and fried for a little difference in tasting experience.

These shoes are not made for walking (much).

Unfortunately, the khinkali were just middling at the place, though still eatable, but by no means great.

And some Tequila sunrise.

Collateral view around the eatery. For you to feast your eyes on.

Restroom at the place.

Napkin

Nice pattern.

Georgian Cuisine: Chicken Satsivi + Khinkali

This one is on the theme of food. 

At a Georgian cafe - Cafe Mizandari - here in Moscow not far from the Moscow river.

I think it was in December last year (2014) that I enjoyed this meal but only have time to write about it now.

Chicken Satsivi, first.

Satsivi is basically a traditional Georgian dish which is a walnut sauce or a paste (or dip) served cold. Also, it typically takes a long time to cook as it has to be prepared hot using lots of ingredients and then left to cool. Even though it's with chicken bits you still can dip bread in it. Nice. Powdered walnut gives it nice texture.

If this piece is to believed, Satsivi may have been Joseph Stalin's favorite dish, or one of.. as he had many apparently.

The BBC article even provides a recipe, quote:

Satsivi is a Georgian speciality whose name translates as "that which has cooled down". Loved by Stalin, it is served at room temperature as a starter and is absurdly labour-intensive

 Ingredients

• 1.5kg chicken
• 700g walnuts
• 5 medium onions
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dried coriander
• 1 tsp blue fenugreek
• I heaped tsp of dried marigold, available at good health food shops
• ½ tsp of cinnamon
• 5 crushed cloves
• Salt

Method

Fill a pan with 2 litres of water, and add the chicken. Heat until parboiled, then remove the chicken and place on a roasting tray, using some of the surface oil from the boiled water to baste the chicken. Do not discard the boiled water. Roast the chicken at 180C/350F.
Cut the roasted chicken into serving portion-size pieces.
Finely chop the onions and fry in more of the surface oil from the boiled chicken for 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer them to a mixing bowl and smooth to a paste with a hand blender. Add the onion paste to the rest of the boiled chicken water.
Grind the walnuts finely and mix with the coriander, fenugreek, marigold, cinnamon and cloves
Crush the red pepper, garlic and salt in a pestle and mortar, before adding this mix and the vinegar to the walnut mix.
Gradually add the rest of the boiled chicken water to the mixture until it has a smooth consistency.
Hold the sieve over the pot used for boiling the chicken and pour the mixture through, discarding any large particles left in the sieve.
Add the chicken pieces to the mix and bring it to boil, before removing from the heat.
Allow to cool before serving

This must be the reason why I ordered it. While at this cafe they generally cook your order in your presence, this one they must have had ready (or it would have taken them a couple hours at least, and we certainly didn't wait that long).

Followed by some 5 Khinkali. Another traditional Georgian dish. Also well known in the Caucasus, in Asia, while similar dishes exist in Chinese and Russian cuisine.

You sprinkle them with (fresh powdered) pepper and eat. Also you are supposed to suck the juices out of them on your first bite. And you typically are not supposed to eat the hard tops (stalks).

We drank beer for some reason though red Georgian wine might have been more appropriate, I think.

My bill - chicken satsivi + lavash, Khinkali 5, Khachapuri 1/3, beer 1/2 l: RUB 1,400.  

Results
Chicken Satsivi - 8/10
Khinkali - 8/10