Georgian sweets are nothing like the cakes and pastries you are used to. They are made from grapes, nuts, honey and fruit, with little sugar or refined flour. Many began as a way to keep the harvest through winter and are now the country's favourite edible souvenirs. The most famous is churchkhela, but the list goes on.

Churchkhela — the "Georgian Snickers"

Churchkhela looks like a colourful candle or sausage hanging on a string. Inside are nuts threaded on a string; outside is a thick coat of thickened grape juice.

How it's made. In autumn, during rtveli, the grape harvest, fresh grape juice is cooked with a little flour into a thick mass called tatara. Strings of nuts are dipped into hot tatara several times and hung to dry for days or weeks. The more layers, the thicker and softer the churchkhela.

Types.

  • Kakhetian — with walnuts and white or red grape juice; the most common.
  • Imeretian — with hazelnuts, usually thinner and sweeter.
  • Others — with almonds, raisins or dried fruit, made with pomegranate, persimmon or blackberry juice. Pink and purple colours come from the juice, not dye — at least from honest sellers.

How to choose real churchkhela.

  • The coating is soft and springy, but not sticky.
  • The colour is natural, from amber to deep burgundy. Neon colours are a warning sign.
  • It is packed with whole nuts, not a thin string with a few pieces.
  • A light white bloom on the surface is crystallised grape sugar, not mould.

Price. Good churchkhela costs 3–8 lari a piece, more on tourist streets. The best is found at markets and in Kakhetian villages in autumn, straight off the string.

Pelamushi — grape pudding

Pelamushi is made from the same tatara as churchkhela, but instead of drying it is poured into moulds and chilled. The result is a dense, slightly chewy grape dessert topped with walnuts. It is an autumn treat; try it in Kakhetian guesthouses, where the homemade version beats any restaurant.

Gozinaki — the New Year sweet

Gozinaki are walnuts caramelised in honey and cut into diamonds. No Georgian New Year is complete without them: they are believed to bring a sweet life in the year ahead. You can buy them all year now, but homemade gozinaki with good honey are another level.

Nazuki — sweet bread from Surami

Driving west on the main highway from Tbilisi, near the town of Surami you will see dozens of roadside stalls selling nazuki. It is a sweet bread with cinnamon, raisins and spices, baked in a clay tone oven. Hot nazuki on the road is one of the small rituals of a trip to Kutaisi or Batumi.

Pakhlava — the Adjarian version

In Adjara and Batumi people love pakhlava, a layered pastry with nuts and honey or syrup, a relative of Turkish baklava. You will also find other oriental sweets here that reflect the region's history.

Tklapi and chiri — dried fruit

  • Tklapi — thin fruit leather made from purée and dried in the sun in large sheets. It can be sweet (apricot, peach, fig) or sour, made from tkemali plums. Sour tklapi is not just a snack — it is used to flavour kharcho soup.
  • Chiri — dried persimmons hung in garlands under the eaves in Kakheti. Sweet and soft, rather like dates.

Surprising jams

Georgian cooks make muraba, jams from unusual ingredients:

  • green walnut — black, fragrant, with whole crunchy nuts inside;
  • fig;
  • rose petal;
  • feijoa — popular in Adjara and Guria;
  • cornelian cherry and quince.

Green walnut jam is one of the best edible gifts — you rarely find it elsewhere.

Honey

Georgia has many apiaries, especially in the mountains of Racha, Svaneti and Adjara. Mountain honey is thick and aromatic. Buy it from beekeepers at markets or guesthouses rather than in souvenir shops.

Where to buy

  • Markets. Dezerter Bazaar in Tbilisi and the central markets in Kutaisi and Batumi have the best choice and fair prices, and you can taste before buying.
  • Kakheti in autumn. Churchkhela, pelamushi and chiri straight from the makers.
  • Roadside stalls. Nazuki near Surami, churchkhela and honey on the way to the mountains.
  • Supermarkets. Fine for quick packaged gifts before your flight.

Getting them home

  • Churchkhela keeps for months at room temperature. Wrap it in paper or cling film so it doesn't stick to your clothes.
  • Pack jam and honey in glass in checked luggage, well wrapped.
  • Gozinaki and pakhlava travel best in boxes — they are fragile.
  • Check your country's food import rules; honey and nut products are usually allowed, but some countries have restrictions.

In short

Try fresh churchkhela at a market, pelamushi in a Kakhetian home, hot nazuki near Surami and gozinaki at New Year. Take home a few churchkhelas, a jar of green walnut jam and some mountain honey — a taste of Georgia to share with the people you love.