Tradition of Zakuski

Ingredients

• 30 g (1 Oz) unsalted butter
• 450 g (1 lb) chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped
• 4 spring onions, chopped
• Good squeeze of lemon juice
• 175g (6 Oz) soured cream
• Chopped dill
• sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Procedure

Heat the butter in a frying pan and, once it’s foaming, add the mushrooms, Saute briskly so that the mushrooms get some colour, then add the cayenne and spring onions, season with salt and pepper and cook until the mushrooms have exuded their liquid and this has evaporated. Add good squeeze of lemon juice and the soured cream. Reduce the heat and let the soured cream combine with mushroom flavours, but don’t let the mixture boil.

Take the pan off the heat, add the dill and check the seasoning. You can serve this lukewarm or at room temperature. The dish doesn’t tast so good if it’s been in the fridge, so cook it near to the time you want to serve it.

Ingredients

• 200 g ( 7 Oz) smoke fish
• 50 g (1 3/4 Oz) unsalted butter, softened
• Yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs
• Good squeeze of lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp creamed horseradish, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper

Procedure

You can use smoked mackerel, cooked kipper or smoked salmon trimmings for this.

If you are using fish that has skin, remove it, Either mash the fish with the butter and egg yolks using fork, or a roughly puree it in a food processor using the pulse button. The texture depends on how coarse or smooth you like it, but you don’t want baby food.

Add the lemon juice, horseradish and pepper to taste.

Ingredients

• 200 g ( 7 Oz) feta cheese
• 140 g (5 Oz) soured cream
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tbsp chopped dill or a mixture of dill and tarragon leaves
• Handful of black olives in olive oil, to serve

Procedure

Use Greek yogurt instead of soured cream, if you prefer

Simply mash together all the ingredients except the olives. Put some olives, drained of their oil, on top before serving.

Ingredients

• 250 g ( 9 Oz) (drained weight)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Good squeeze of lemon juice
• Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Procedure

This dish, lobio tkmali, combines two grreat Georgian loves; beans and plum sauce . This recipe makes rather more plum sauce than you need, but it’s hard to deal with smaller quantities and it’s great with fried chicken or lamb kebabs.

For the plum sauce, halve the plums and remove the stones. Put all the ingredients for the plum sauce except the herbs, into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Immediately reduce the heat to a simmer and vook for about 20 minutes. Puree the mixture and add most of the chopped herbs, keeping some back for scattering on top later.

Mix the cooked beans with olive, season, add the lemon juice abd slightly mash the mixture so some beans are broken up and others remain whole. Mix with 4 tbsp of plum sauce.

Check the seasoning, put the bean mixture into a bowl and scatter with the remaining herbs.

Ingredients

• 350 g ( 12 Oz) beetroot cooked or raw ( but not pickled)
• 75g (2 3/4 Oz) walnut pieces
• 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
• 3 garlic cloves crushed
• 2 1/2 tbsp chopped parsley leaves
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Seeds from 1/2 pomegranate (optional), to serve

Procedure

This dish, charkhlis pkhali, is another popular Georgian zakusko.

If you have raw beetroots, preheat the oven to 190 C fan (400 F), Gas6. Don’t do anything except wash the beetroots and cut off any leaves about 4 cm ( 1 1/2 inches) from their base ( cutting the beetroot will make the crimson juice run out while cooking). Wrap the beetroots in foil, adding 3 tbsp water and leaving space around them, place in a small roasting tin and bake for 45 minutes to 2 hours, or until tender (the time they take depends on their size).

Meanwhile, grind together the walnut, salt, and garlic, either in a mortar and pestle or in a food processor using the pulse button. Add the fresh herbs and continue grinding until you have a paste.

If you cooked the beetroots, when they are cool enough to handle, peel them. Grate the flesh into a bowl and mix in the walnut paste and the remaining ingredients, except the pomegranate, seasoning with pepper. Keep the mixture in the fridge, but bring it to room temperature before serving. Pomegranate seeds look beautiful scattered over the top.