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Posted on October 03, 2011 by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), (1) Comments

A TOAST TO GEORGIA: GEORGIAN COOKING NIGHT 2011

Knives chopping, pots steaming, hands kneading, grill smoking, wine drinking. As soon as I walked into Georgian Cooking night last Wednesday, all of this activity was already buzzing. Our Georgian visitors were already in full swing and had taken to heart the mission to provide authentic Georgian food for us as their Jacksonville hosts. I quickly settled in with the best view of the house: I got to watch Sabina, Tamar and Medea working away to make Khinkali (traditional Georgian dumplings). Made from scratch beginning with just flour and water, the women worked tirelessly to make sure these dumplings were as authentic as possible, even if it meant Sabina spending hours working a rolling pin and Medea whirling dough as fast as her skilled fingers would go.

Finally, everyone joined together at the table with a beautiful spread before us. Our Georgian guests however explained that in order to make this an authentic celebration, we would have to participate in the customary dinner toast. At every Georgian dinner, the guests choose a toast master, or a tamada in Georgian, to pick a theme for the evening’s toasts, and then he usually speaks for upwards of 30 minutes! The tradition is that wine is poured into a horn, and that after your toast, you must drink all of the wine in the horn and turn it over when finished to prove not even a drop remains. It is supposed to say, (loosely translated of course), “I hope you are as free of enemies as this cup is free of wine.”

Our visitor Armen was chosen as our tamada for the evening who chose the topic of freedom for the evenings toasts. He and many of our visitors and guests expressed their appreciation that we are now able to sit and break bread together, when just a few years ago before the fall of the Soviet Union, that we were scared and intimidated by each other’s cultures. Almost everyone, of the almost 30 people there, each stood up and gave a toast for the evening. At the end of the night, I left wonderfully full of Georgian food, and with a renewed respect for the freedom each of us has to be friends and have a meal with people of other nationalities, faiths, and cultures.

Comments

Commented on October 07, 2011 by Medea Beal
Beautifully described dear Madeline! It sure was much fun, and thanks for your help!

Respectfully,

Medea Beal
Interpreter

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