
Baking Bread, Breaking Bread in Georgia
Never heard of Georgian bread? An internet search pops up thousands of links on the multiple variations of this wonder(ful) bread shaped into delectable designs, and made from simple ingredients that are truly “of the earth” – nothing artificial. MIR’s Tour Manager Devin Connolly is a huge fan of Georgia, having led many MIR tours there. So I nabbed her in between bites of bread to get her favorite Georgian picks.

MIR’s Devin Connolly in the countryside of Georgia
Photo credit: Devin Connolly

Laden with cheese, khachapuri is one of Georgia’s most famous breads, and one of Devin’s favorites
Photo credit: Martin Klimenta

Dough is pressed against the inside walls of this round oven for tonis puri bread
Photo credit: Devin Connolly

The art of making tonis puri and other Georgian breads is handed down from generation to generation
Photo credit: Martin Klimenta
The tonis puri bread is the yeasty kind that sticks to the sides of the round oven. You just plaster it on the side of the oven and it sticks, like tandoori. Because it’s yeast bread and not flat bread, it keeps the shape of the oven – a crescent. What’s really cool is that in paintings that depict Georgian life, like Niko Pirosmani’s “Feast of Four Residents,” you’ll notice people in their costumes, notice the dishes they eat, PLUS notice the crescent-shaped bread sitting end-up at the table. It’s yeasty, salty and it’s great for dipping in soups, or dunking in a favorite nutty eggplant dip.
Notice how Niko Pirosmani painted crescent-shaped Georgian bread into his “Feast of Four Residents”
Photo credit: Georgia Tourist Board
A really rare bread is Sioni (Zion) bread, given that name because it’s baked right across the street from Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi. The basement bakery in this photo is the only place in Georgia where this lopsided fiddle bread is baked. I think it looks more like a mandolin, but that’s probably splitting hairs.

Rare Sioni Georgian bread, fresh from the oven
Photo credit: Martin Klimenta
A variation of this is Adjaran khachapuri. It’s a kind of marriage of shotis puri and khachapuri – boat-shaped with cheese, egg, and butter. They cook the bread with the cheese and then put butter on it. At the table they’ll crack a raw egg on top and spread it out to every corner of the bread, gently cooking the egg in the process. Doing this is an art form in itself, and best done by your waiter or someone with lots of Georgian dining experience.

Adjaran khachapuri, truly a Georgian indulgence!
Photo credit: John Wurdeman
(Top photo credit: Martin Klimenta)
PUBLISHED: July 7, 2014
I just love all the knowledge on all the BREAD in South Caucasus . Reading it made my mouth
watered .
Thanks for your comment, Yee Wah Chan. Researching and writing about these yummy breads made my mouth water, too!