Cjss second Issue: cjss second Issue qxd

Fig 3: Saint Nino´s cross made out of vinestocks. 
(© Söderlind, Ulrica, 2006).
Bread
As indicated above, bread has a long traditional history in Georgia, dating
back to the chalcolitic period.  The crop that is mainly used for bread-making
in Georgia today is wheat. The Georgian word for wheat flour actually is trans-
lated into English  as “bread flour”.
A special oven called ‘tone’ exists in Georgia for bread baking. This kind
of oven 
is designed to provide very high, dry heat. Fuel for the fire is provided
by charcoal which lines the bottom of the structure. In order to produce tem-
perature approaching 900 degrees Fahrenheit (480 degrees Celsius), bakers
maintain a long vigil to keep the oven’s coals continually burning. At such high
temperature, the bread made in a Tone oven develops a very crisp outer layer
without sacrificing moistness on the inside (Todua, 1979, p 692).
One can find analogies between the ‘tone’ oven and the ‘tandoor’ oven in
Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, the Transcaucasus region, the Balkans, the Mid-
dle East, Central Asia and Bangladesh. The earliest example of a tandoor oven
has been found at the Harappa and Mohenjo Daro settlements of the ancient
Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1500 B.C). Even so, ovens of the tandoor -type
have been found in early-Harappan contexts (
The Early Harappan Ravi Phase
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is named after the nearby 
Ravi River
, lasted from ca 3300- 2800 BC). The ma-
ture phase of earlier village cultures is represented by 
Rehman Dheri
and
Amri
in Pakistan. Trade networks linked this culture with related regional
cultures and distant sources of raw materials, including 
lapis lazuli
and other
materials for bread-making. Villagers had, by this time, domesticated numer-
ous crops, including 
peas
, 
sesame seeds
, 
dates
and 
cotton
, as well as various
animals, including the 
water buffalo
) 
on the Makran coast, including at the
mound site of Balakut that pre-dates the findings from the Mohenjo Daro set-
tlements (
Mohenjo-daro (Mound of the Dead) was one of the largest city-set-
tlements of the 
Indus Valley Civilization
of south Asia situated in the province
of 
Sind
, 
Pakistan
. Built around 2600 BC, the city was one of the early 
urban
settlements in the world, existing at the same time as the civilizations of 
an-
cient Egypt
, 
Mesopotamia
, and 
Crete
). 
Description of ovens of this kind are
also found in texts and accounts from Mesopotamia (
Bottéro, 2004, p 47).
Fig. 4: 
A detailed photograph of bread being baked in ‘tone’ oven. This sample of
bread is ready for consumption and is being taken out of the oven. ‘Tone’ bread is thin
bread and it is preferably eaten when warm. ‘Tone’ bread is never cut using a knife
but is divided into smaller pieces by hand instead (© Söderlind, Ulrica, 2007).
The word tandoor comes from the Dari words tandūr and tannūr; these
are derived from very similar terms, Persian tanūr, Arabic tandūr, Turkish
Tandır and Azeri word t
əndir. However, according to Dehkhoda Persian Dic-
tionary the word originates from Akkadian tinûru, and is mentioned as early
as in the Accadian Epic of Gilgames (reflexes of which are Avestan tanûra and
Pahlavi tanûr). As such, the term may not be of Semitic or Iranian origin at all,
dating back as it does to periods before the migration of Aryan and Semitic
people to the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia (
Bottéro, 2004, p 47).
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Fig 5: A wall painting in Tbilisi that advertises the merchandise of bread made
in a “Tone” (© Söderlind, Ulrica, 2007).
The fact that the main crop grown for use in bread baking in Georgia was
wheat, does not mean that no other crops were used. In the western part of
the country a crop called ”Romi” [Romi] [ghomi], that belongs to the Mono-
cotyledons culture, was used. The crop (that was similar to millet) was boiled
and eaten instead of bread. When sweet corn came into use in the western
part of the country, it was used instead of Ghomi  and the crop is now extinct.
Nevertheless, this kind of bread is still named Ghomi in western Georgia, even
if it is baked using fine grained cornflour and such bread is often called corn-
bread when described to visitors. Ghomi was also found in the Monocotyle-
dons cultural period and remained in use until the 
beginning of twentieth
century (T, Tskvitinindze, personal communication,  Kobuleti, Georgia,
2007-
09-24)
. Bread (puri) 
is a very important element of a diet for Georgians; and,
with just two exceptions, Khachapuri and Khinkali, it is eaten at every meal.
It does not matter how many dishes there is on the table, if bread is missing,
the meal is not considered to be complete.
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Fig 6: My hostess in Mestia, Georgia, baked fresh bread every morning. For a
Suede it was very nice to wake up to the smell of newly baked bread 
(© Söderlind, Ulrica, 2007).
Khachapuri and Khinkali
Khachapuri (xaWapuri)  is a specialty of Georgian cuisine. There are dif-
ferent regional varieties, such as, adjarian khachapuri, imeritian khachapuri,
ossetian khachapuri and 
Mengrelian Khachapuri. The name is very often trans-
lated into English as cheese bread, but it is not bread at all. The dish consists
of a mixture of dough made from a mixture of youghurt, wheatflour, baking
soda, sugar, egg yolk and salt. The dough is prepared approximately three
hours before using. The different varieties of the dish arise from the seasoning
used – such as sour cream, garlic, and so on – and this is also specific on the
regional bases. Even if the different varieties of khacapuri do not look alike,
they are all made using this dough and are filled with cheese before they are
baked in a pan on the stove or in the oven, and then coated with butter before
being served (
Georgian dishes, s.l., s.d 16-18, 20, 26)
. Khacapuri is a very pop-
ular dish and is often eaten as a snack between meals or as fast food, even
though the dish is very filling.
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