A large tortilla of puff or sweet pastry with pickled cheese, a traditional Georgian dish. It got its name from two words – “hacho” – “curd” and “puri” – “bread”. The main rule of real khachapuri is the same amount of airy, tender dough and fresh cheese. However, if there is more cheese than bread, then the cakes will benefit.
For the first time, puff cakes with cheese began to bake in the middle Ages, in the mountain villages of northwestern Georgia. Since then, the dish has become widespread throughout the country, where in each region khachapuri was baked according to its own recipes, filling egg with cheese or changing shape – from square to large circle. Georgian bakers are convinced that the secret of delicious khachapuri is not to mix bread with water, milk and yeast, you need skillful hands and a warm heart.
In each region of Georgia, the most proper khachapuri are baked. Ajar open flat cakes are shaped into a boat, and the top of the cheese is poured with a fresh soft-boiled egg. Imereti khachapuri – closed and round, Mingrelian – also round, but on top covered with suluguni cheese. Racha flatbread, lobiani, baked with bean filling, cooked with bacon. Another national type of khachapuri is foaming, which is baked only from puff pastry in the form of a square envelope.
In 2010, the Georgian National Center for Intellectual Property developed a bill to protect the trade name of cheese flat cakes. The National Center offers the introduction in Georgia of the European system of protection of national trademarks TSG (Traditional Specialty Guaranteed). According to this law, manufacturers of other countries will not be able to call the product “khachapuri” unless the cakes are baked using technologies and using the ingredients specified in the document.
