NELE “National Khinkali Association” (“the Association”) initiates a movement “Ask for the traditional khinkali - save the bread”. We do not even notice that generations grow in Georgia so, that they have an incorrect knowledge about the outstanding Georgian dish - Khinkali. We share such impression with the guests of our country too. Form of the absolute majority of Khinkali cooked in Georgia significantly differs from the form of traditional Khinkali. The writer Dato Turashvili, being an active member of the Association, named such form of Khinkali “Soviet Khinkali”; for fun we also call them “Khinkali with a grip”.
For “Soviet Khinkali”, the same Khinkali “with a grip” a very big size of so called “tail” is typical and it has a form of a small sack/bag. As a rule, the tail of such Khinkali, owing to its big size, does not manage to get cooked/boil together with the other parts of Khinkali and is inedible. Such tail, during eating Khinkali, has a function of a grip; Khinkali is taken and held grasping it with hand or sticking the fork into it. After using it to such purpose, as a rule, the tail is not eaten and is thrown away. Let’s recall, each of us often taught such “rule” of eating Khinkali to our guests and in the end specified not to eat the tail and throw it away. By the very rough calculations every year in Georgia are thrown away up to 3 million kilograms of Khinkali tails.
In the world culinary does not exist the analogue when a part of a dish, almost a third, being eatable, is thrown away. Such dish cannot be Georgian as Georgia from the earliest times is a country of farmers, where wheat, grain crops and bread were valued. Collaborate ethnographic research of the Association and the Georgian National Museum, being the first scientific research in this direction, established that Khinkali is the mountainous product of Georgia and they were cooked from the ingredients cultivated by the traditional economy (cattle-breeding and farming) of people living in mountains - barley, rye, wheat, beef or mutton and wild mountainous herbs/seasonings. Imagine, in mountains, in severe conditions, from the wheat, barley cultivated by hard work they cook Khinkali and throw away their third part?! Of course, no!
Traditional Khinkali are round and flat, they have a form of a little pie and their tail is small-sized which is completely cooked/boiled and eaten together with the other parts of Khinkali. As a rule, traditional Khinkali are eaten with hands, they are held as a little pie and eaten.
Form has a big significance - imagine the best Georgian wine poured into a teacup or the best whisky poured into a beer mug. The Association initiates a popular movement: “Ask for the traditional Khinkali - save the bread”.
The goal of this movement is not to judge or condemn so called “Soviet Khinkali”, the same Khinkali “with a grip” or want to drive out such Khinkali from our everyday life. We, the members of the Association, often and with a great pleasure eat “Soviet Khinkali”, Khinkali with a grip” that in a certain way became a traditional dish of our modernity. The goal of this movement is to rise awareness of traditional Khinkali, their popularization and return to our everyday reality. The more customers demand, the more restaurants and food facilities will include traditional Khinkali into their menu. By the Association, within the framework of this movement, various activities are planned and we with pleasure will cooperate with any interested person. We realize that it will not be easy to achieve this goal; it will require great jointed efforts. Let’s begin with joining this movement and declare that there are many of us. Share this call with your friends, acquaintances, persons holding the same views. Also, if you join this movement, we ask you to send an e-mail with any supporting statement to the following e-mail address of the Association: board@nak.ge
Thank you very much!
National Khinkali Association
NELE “National Khinkali Association” (“the Association”) initiates a movement “Ask for the traditional khinkali - save the bread”. We do not even notice that generations grow in Georgia so, that they have an incorrect knowledge about the outstanding Georgian dish - Khinkali. We share such impression with the guests of our country too. Form of the absolute majority of Khinkali cooked in Georgia significantly differs from the form of traditional Khinkali. The writer Dato Turashvili, being an active member of the Association, named such form of Khinkali “Soviet Khinkali”; for fun we also call them “Khinkali with a grip”.
For “Soviet Khinkali”, the same Khinkali “with a grip” a very big size of so called “tail” is typical and it has a form of a small sack/bag. As a rule, the tail of such Khinkali, owing to its big size, does not manage to get cooked/boil together with the other parts of Khinkali and is inedible. Such tail, during eating Khinkali, has a function of a grip; Khinkali is taken and held grasping it with hand or sticking the fork into it. After using it to such purpose, as a rule, the tail is not eaten and is thrown away. Let’s recall, each of us often taught such “rule” of eating Khinkali to our guests and in the end specified not to eat the tail and throw it away. By the very rough calculations every year in Georgia are thrown away up to 3 million kilograms of Khinkali tails.
In the world culinary does not exist the analogue when a part of a dish, almost a third, being eatable, is thrown away. Such dish cannot be Georgian as Georgia from the earliest times is a country of farmers, where wheat, grain crops and bread were valued. Collaborate ethnographic research of the Association and the Georgian National Museum, being the first scientific research in this direction, established that Khinkali is the mountainous product of Georgia and they were cooked from the ingredients cultivated by the traditional economy (cattle-breeding and farming) of people living in mountains - barley, rye, wheat, beef or mutton and wild mountainous herbs/seasonings. Imagine, in mountains, in severe conditions, from the wheat, barley cultivated by hard work they cook Khinkali and throw away their third part?! Of course, no!
Traditional Khinkali are round and flat, they have a form of a little pie and their tail is small-sized which is completely cooked/boiled and eaten together with the other parts of Khinkali. As a rule, traditional Khinkali are eaten with hands, they are held as a little pie and eaten.
Form has a big significance - imagine the best Georgian wine poured into a teacup or the best whisky poured into a beer mug. The Association initiates a popular movement: “Ask for the traditional Khinkali - save the bread”.
The goal of this movement is not to judge or condemn so called “Soviet Khinkali”, the same Khinkali “with a grip” or want to drive out such Khinkali from our everyday life. We, the members of the Association, often and with a great pleasure eat “Soviet Khinkali”, Khinkali with a grip” that in a certain way became a traditional dish of our modernity. The goal of this movement is to rise awareness of traditional Khinkali, their popularization and return to our everyday reality. The more customers demand, the more restaurants and food facilities will include traditional Khinkali into their menu. By the Association, within the framework of this movement, various activities are planned and we with pleasure will cooperate with any interested person. We realize that it will not be easy to achieve this goal; it will require great jointed efforts. Let’s begin with joining this movement and declare that there are many of us. Share this call with your friends, acquaintances, persons holding the same views. Also, if you join this movement, we ask you to send an e-mail with any supporting statement to the following e-mail address of the Association: board@nak.ge
Thank you very much!
National Khinkali Association
