Churchkhela ( ka, ჩურჩხელა, ) is a traditional
Georgian cuisine
Georgian cuisine () consists of cooking traditions, techniques, and practices of Georgia. Georgian cuisine has a distinct character, while bearing some similarities with various national cuisines of the Caucasus and the wider Eastern Europe. E ...
candle-shaped
candy
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language an ...
.
The main ingredients of Churchkhela are grape
must
Must (from the Latin ''vinum mustum'', "young wine") is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of t ...
,
nuts, and
flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
.
Almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...
s,
walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
s,
hazelnut
The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...
s, and chocolate and sometimes
raisin
A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the d ...
s are threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened
grape must
Must (from the Latin ''vinum mustum'', "young wine") is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of t ...
,
mulberry
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
juice, or fruit juices and dried in the shape of a
sausage
A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders.
...
.
In eastern Georgia, churchkhela production begins with a condensed juice called tatara, made from must from local grapes in the areas of Kakheti, Kartli or Meskheti thickened with wheat flour. Wheat flour is also used for making condensed mulberry juice in the area of Samtskhe-Javakheti. Corn flour is used in western Georgia (the areas of Racha, Lechkhumi, Guria, Samegrelo, Abkhazia or Achara), and this condensed grape juice is called
pelamushi
Pelamushi ( ka, ფელამუში) is a GeorgianJonathan Hyde, Confessions & Payback on a Volga Cruise, p. 18 dessert porridge commonly made in autumn, composed of a thick, hard chilled jelly made from grape juice and flour. Pelamushi is u ...
. In
Abkhazia
Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...
, a region in the North Caucus Mountains of Georgia, it is known as "Аджинджук" ("Adzhindzhukhua" or "Ajinjuk")" in the local
Abkhaz language
Abkhaz ( ; ), sometimes spelled Abxaz and also known as Abkhazian, is a Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abaza. It is spoken mostly by the Abkhaz people. It is one of the official languages of Abkhazia, where around 100,00 ...
and is touted as the best souvenir for gifting.
Georgian warriors carried Churchkhelas with them because they contain many calories.
The traditional technology of churchkhela in the
Kakheti
Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...
region was inscribed on the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia list in 2015.
Outside Georgia
Churchkhela and its varieties are popular in several countries besides Georgia, such as
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
,
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
[ ]Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
, Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, and Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
.[Procook.ru:Чурчхела](_blank)
In Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, it's known as باسلوق شیره انگور ">/a>/sup>. In Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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, Syria it is known as ''jok malbal'' جق ملبل. In Armenian, Greek, and Turkish it is known as "sujuk
Sujuk or sucuk is a dry, spicy and fermented sausage which is consumed in several Balkan, Middle Eastern and Central Asian cuisines. Sujuk mainly consists of ground meat and animal fat usually obtained from beef or lamb, but beef is mainly use ...
", which is actually a dry sausage. To distinguish the two, it is sometimes referred to as "sweet sujukh" (քաղցր սուջուխ, ''kaghtsr sujukh'') in Armenian (շարոց, ''sharots'' in Western Armenian), and ''cevizli sucuk'' ("walnut sujuk") in Turkish. It is known in Cypriot Greek
Cypriot Greek ( el, κυπριακή ελληνική or ) is the Varieties of Modern Greek, variety of Modern Greek that is spoken by the majority of the Cyprus, Cypriot populace and Greek Cypriot diaspora. It is considered a divergent dialect ...
as ''shoushoukos'' (''σιουσιούκκος'') and as ''soutzouki'' (σουτζούκι,) τζουτζούκι (tzoutzoúki Or jutsuki,) and tσούτσελα (tsoútsela) in Greece. Several related sweets are made in Greece during the autumn grape harvest by thickening grape must, to include the grape molasses πετιμέζι Pekmez
Pekmez ( tr, pekmez, az, bəkməz/doşab) is a molasses-like syrup obtained after condensing juices of fruit must, especially grape by boiling it with a coagulant agent like wood ashes or ground carob seeds. It is used as a syrup or mixed with t ...
(petimezi), the grape must pudding called μουσταλευριά (Moustalevria
Mustalevria ( el, μουσταλευριά) or must jelly (also mustpie and mustcake) is a traditional Greek kind of pudding made of grape must mixed with flour and boiled until thick. Moustokouloura, must biscuits or must cookies is the biscuit (c ...
,) and grape must cookies called μουστοκούλουρα (moustokouloura.)
Another variant of Churchkhela, traditionally called Kelawo, is prepared in the Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. It was locally marketed as Hunza chocolate, but as Kelawo does not contain any cocoa, it is now renamed as Hunza Candy.
The Cypriot variety is made by dipping strings of almonds into jelly, called ''palouzes'' (παλουζές).
Preparation
Churchkhela is a homemade Georgian product. Georgians usually make Churchkhela in Autumn when the primary ingredients, grapes and nuts, are harvested. It is a string of walnut halves that have been dipped in grape juice called Tatara or Phelamushi (grape juice thickened with flour), and dried in the sun. No sugar is added to make real Churchkhela. Instead of walnuts, sometimes hazelnuts or almonds are used in the regions of west Georgia.
The juice is placed in a large bronze cauldron and heated slowly. A small amount of a special white earth called ''asproi'' is added to the boiling must and causes impurities to rise to the surface, where they are collected and removed. It is possible to substitute ''asproi'', when not available, with lager beer, which has a similar result. Once the cleansing process is complete, the liquid is left to cool. Next, flour is added while stirring and heating the mixture. When it reaches the right consistency, based on the rate of steam bubbles and the viscosity of the mixture, it is removed from the heat. The mix, called ''Badagi'', is now ready for use in the next step in the process of making Churchelas, which consists of preparing the nuts for dipping.
Before they are threaded, the nuts have to be shelled and dipped into water in order to soften them. Once soft enough, they are strung onto 2-3 meter-long threads. The strings are dipped in the ''Badagi'' mixture until completely covered. This process is repeated several times (usually three times) until the Churchkhelas has the desired thickness. Churchkhelas strings are then left to dry for 5–6 days. They are then ready for consumption or storage, even though some people like to eat it fresh.
Consumption
Churchkhela is a between-meals snack and is also served as a dessert during New Year
New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...
and Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
celebrations.
Traditionally, in times of war women would send their men Churchkhela to eat at the front, because of its pragmatic size, ability not to mold for long periods of time, and heavy texture that keeps one full.
Gallery
File:Naschmarkt Wien 2009 PD 20091008 035.JPG
Making of Churchkhela (6253776040).jpg
File:Tschurtschchela.jpg
File:Churchkhela (4).jpg
File:Churchxela.jpg
File:Churchkhela.jpg
See also
* Gozinaki
Gozinaki or Gozinaqi ( ka, გოზინაყი ) is a traditional Georgian confection made of caramelized nuts, usually walnuts, fried in honey, and served exclusively on New Year's Eve and Christmas. In the western Georgian provinces of I ...
* List of grape dishes
This is a list of notable grape dishes and foods that are prepared using grapes as a primary ingredient. Raisin dishes and foods are also included in this article.
Grape dishes and foods
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the decid ...
* Pestil
Pestil, a Turkish word meaning dried fruit pulp, is best exemplified in the English term "fruit leather." Fruit leather is made from mechanically pulverizing fruit, then spreading it out to dry into a tough, yet flexible and edible material which ...
References
External links
*
{{Nut confections
Cuisine of Georgia (country)
Grape dishes
Georgian products with protected designation of origin
Almond desserts
Nut confections