For better or worse, it’s an era in which some of our most profound minds work in the medium of memes. I recently saw one that warned that the next few months will be a series of anniversaries of soul-crushing events. Rings true, doesn’t it? I am in the midst of one.
Right around this time last year, I started to realize that I wouldn’t be able to make a long-planned and longed-for trip to Georgia and Armenia. I had big plans to obsessively taste my way through one of my favorite hard-to-find cuisines. I hadn’t had khachapuri or khinkali (Georgian soup dumplings) since a lunch at a Georgian restaurant in Prague months earlier. I was so ready to start the spring by loading up on some of the planet’s tastiest carbs.
I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I have a stable job that didn’t go away with the pandemic. But even luckier? I’ve found a local source for Georgian cheese bread that doesn’t necessitate a drive to DC. On an Alexandria side street, Taste of Eurasia is turning out two varieties of khachapuri.
Taste of Eurasia isn’t exactly a restaurant, per se. Diners can order pick up at the takeout window or visit the Clarendon, Old Town, or Columbia Pike Farmers Markets for a taste. There is Central Asian plov, but most of the dishes available are of the doughy variety. Besides khachapuri, there’s everything from sambusas to Turkish pide to Italian pizza.
But I was craving khachapuri Adjaruli, the most famous of the Georgian cheese breads. At Taste of Eurasia, a fluffy, chewy, boat-shaped crust holds a deep center of molten sulguni cheese. This would be enough, but the inclusion of an egg that lightly cooks as it mixes with the acidic, elastic cheese makes it irresistible. I ate it in the front seat of my car, determined to taste it at its freshest.
Someday I’ll make it to Georgia. But until then, I will comfort myself with khachapuri. // 428 A Hume Ave., Alexandria
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