A GUIDE TO GURIAN CUISINE

Cheese, lobiani, chakhrakhina — the most beloved dishes of Gurian cooking.

In Guria, the best kitchen is not the one with the most ingredients — it is the one where every ingredient comes from a local family.

Lobiani carries the status of a national dish in Guria. This bean-stuffed flatbread, baked in a pan or under a hearth — appears on the table of every Gurian family. Beans are often home-grown, and the long process of soaking and slow-cooking beans is something every family member respects.

Chakhrakhina — eggs and cheese cooked together in a pan — is Guria's 'everyday' dish. This is neither omelette nor frittata — it is a form that exists only in Guria, where the egg wraps around firm cheese and becomes a single texture. It is also very quick to prepare — ten minutes on the fire.

Gebzhalia is the most 'exotic' Gurian dish — freshly made cheese wrapped in mint leaves. This combination is the natural meeting of Guria's botanical wealth (wild mint) and agricultural tradition (fresh cheese).

Interesting fact

Gurian cuisine is the most vegetarian-friendly variant of Georgian cooking — driven by the abundance of crops such as beans, walnut, and vegetables that sit at the centre of the family kitchen.

Lobiani — the spiritual dish of Guria