Supra: The legendary Georgian cookbook
SynopsisPlot
In this, her first book, Tiko Tuskadze, chef-owner of London’s celebrated Little Georgia restaurant, opens her kitchen to share her love for the food of her home country and the recipes and stories that have been passed down through her family for generations. The book opens with an introduction to the delicious, yet little-known, food of Georgia and an exploration and explanation of the traditions and cultural significance of the supra. Recipes follow the authentic procession of dishes, starting with pâtés and sauces then salads, which are traditionally laid out on the table before guests arrive; moving on to sections on soups, bread and cheese, meat dishes, poultry dishes, fish dishes, vegetable dishes and ending with a few fruity treats.
Story
About this book
Georgia sits at a geographic crossroads, bordered by Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia along routes that once connected East and West. Its cooking reflects centuries of exchange with neighboring cultures while remaining distinctly its own. Tiko Tuskadze, chef and owner of Little Georgia restaurant in London, presents over 100 recipes from this tradition in her first book. The title refers to the supra, a Georgian gathering of family and friends centered on shared food, toasts, conversation, and drink.
The recipes follow the order in which dishes would appear at an actual supra. Pates, sauces, and salads are set out before guests arrive, followed by soups, breads, cheese dishes, meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables, finishing with fruit-based sweets. Familiar Georgian dishes such as khachapuri (cheese bread), khinkali (dumplings), and kebabi (lamb kebabs) appear alongside less widely known preparations like ajapsandali, an aubergine stew, and ckmeruli, poussin cooked in garlic and walnut sauce.
Tuskadze draws on recipes and stories passed through her own family, grounding the book in personal history as well as national food culture. The structure gives readers a working outline for assembling a full Georgian table rather than treating each dish in isolation.
