Latest news with #GeorgianCuisine
Telegraph
5 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Griddled yogurt-marinated chicken with bulgur wheat and sour cherries
This is inspired by a Georgian recipe. Sour cherries, lots of soft herbs, bulgur, yogurt and pomegranate molasses are key ingredients there at this time of year. If you aren't going to serve the bulgur immediately, hold back the herbs. Any meat you cook after marinating it in yogurt can burn easily, so you have to adjust the heat, reducing it or turning it up as you need to. The yogurt really tenderises and flavours the meat. Overview Prep time 25 mins Cook time 25 mins Serves 6 Ingredients For the chicken 8 chicken thigh fillets 300g Greek yogurt ¾ tsp ground cayenne 1¼ tsp ground cumin 2 garlic cloves, grated to a purée 2 tbsp olive oil finely grated zest of 1 lemon and juice of ½ For the bulgur 70g dried sour cherries about 100ml fresh apple juice, or as needed 200g bulgur wheat 250ml stock, or boiling water 70g pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped (keep them chunky) 2 spring onions, finely chopped 20g flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped 20g mint, leaves picked and chopped 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses 1 tbsp honey juice of ½ lemon 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground cumin 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil Method Step Put 8 chicken thigh fillets on one side of a large sheet of baking parchment. Fold the other side of the parchment over the top. Step Bash the chicken pieces with a rolling pin until they are of an even thickness. Step In a large dish or bowl, mix together 300g Greek yogurt, ¾ tsp ground cayenne, 1¼ tsp ground cumin, 2 garlic cloves grated to a purée, 2 tbsp olive oil, and the finely grated zest of 1 lemon and juice of ½. Step Add the meat to the bowl, turning it over to coat fully. Step Season, cover with cling film and put it in the fridge to chill. Leave the chicken to marinate for anything from 2 hours to overnight. Step Put 70g dried sour cherries into a small saucepan and add enough fresh apple juice (about 100ml) to cover. Step Bring it to the boil then pull off the heat and leave the cherries to plump up for 20 minutes. Step Meanwhile, put 200g bulgur wheat and ¼ tsp salt in a medium bowl and pour over 250ml stock or boiling water. Step Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for about 20 minutes. Step Remove the cling film and, using a fork, fluff up the wheat to separate the grains. Season. Step Add the sour cherries with their juice, 70g toasted and roughly chopped pistachios, 2 finely chopped spring onions and 20g each of chopped flat-leaf parsley and mint, then toss to mix. Step Put the 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses, 1 tbsp honey, juice of ½ lemon, 1 tsp each of ground cinnamon and ground cumin and 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil into a small jug and whisk everything together. Step Pour this on to the grain salad and mix well. Cover. It will be served at room temperature. Step Put an ovenproof dish into the oven at a low heat (160C/150C fan/gas mark 3 is fine). Step Heat a griddle pan until very hot – if you sprinkle on some water it should sizzle. Step Shake the excess marinade off each piece of chicken and cook them on the dry griddle pan, cooking as many as you can at one time and putting the pieces into the dish in the oven as soon as they're ready (about 5 minuted on each side – they must be cooked through). Step Arrange the chicken on a warmed platter and serve with the bulgur.
New York Times
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Chef Loved a Painter's Work So Much, She Cooked a Meal Inspired by It
The Paris-based chef Rose Chalalai Singh doesn't remember when she first saw the work of Niko Pirosmani, only the awe it inspired in her. Born in 1862, the self-taught Georgian artist painted animals, portraits and scenes of country life, including rustic outdoor banquets. In one work, 'Feast at Vintage Time' (date unknown), men with mustaches sit Last Supper style on the far side of a table covered with a white cloth while a waiter presents them with a roast bird and a trio of musicians serenades them. On the left side of the tableau, a man stomps on grapes to make more wine, and on the right, a bear walks on its hind legs. This is Singh's favorite type of Pirosmani painting. 'It's all about celebration and hosting and imagination,' she says. The piece illustrates a supra, or a traditional Georgian feast, but also shows the kind of gathering — memorable for both its food and bonhomie — that she tries to create herself. Singh is best known for opening the Paris restaurants Ya Lamaï and Rose Kitchen, beloved for their homey but perfectly executed dishes such as pomelo salad, mango sticky rice, steamed sea bass with Thai herbs and coconut pudding. In 2023 she decided to transform the latter, now set in a former sculpture studio in the Bastille, into a headquarters for her consulting and catering outfit as well as a private dining space. The shift away from daily service has allowed Singh, 45, to follow her instincts in less expected directions. Earlier that year, she traveled to Georgia to stay with her friend Keti Toloraia, 44, a co-founder of the Tbilisi interior design firm Rooms Studio. On the first day of her trip, Singh visited the Georgian National Gallery and lingered over the works by Pirosmani. 'She was obsessed, talking only about him,' says Toloraia. Then Singh got an idea: What if she hosted a party that recreated elements of Pirosmani's feast paintings, right down to the roast pig, yellow flowers and maybe even the view of mountains in the distance? She ran it by George Ramishvili, 58, the founder of Silk Road Group, a Georgian investment company with a hospitality arm, who gamely offered up the nearly 200-acre Tsinandali Estate, in the country's winemaking province of Kakheti. Irakli Asatiani, 38, the executive chef at Silk Hospitality, agreed to collaborate on the food. So, last July, Singh set off for Georgia again, to be with friends old and new. - A Danish jewelry designer's long midsummer lunch. - In the Caribbean, a couple's laid-back birthday party with their young son. - A group of trans artists and activists' Filipino feast on Fire Island. - In a Georgian vineyard, a meal inspired by a painting. - A guide to sharing a vacation rental (and remaining friends with your housemates). - Chefs' favorite recipes for large groups. - An easy, crowd-pleasing cocktail to make in big batches. In the lead-up to the meal, Singh, Asatiani and their assistants gathered ingredients, prepared dough, marinated meat and preheated the tone, a traditional round oven where they cooked a suckling pig stuffed — in an example of Thai-Georgian fusion — with lemongrass and lime leaves. In the late afternoon, at a long table positioned beneath an oak tree, the guests feasted, talked, laughed and eventually danced. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
