Meat

Many different kinds of meat and game are enjoyed in Georgia, from beef to kid to wild boar. Until this century and the advent of modern agriculture, however, meat was considered a luxury, hardly daily fare. For this reason numerous ways were devised to preserve the freshly slaughtered animal. Apart from eating the meat fresh, Georgians salted, dried, and smoked it, sometimes in a toné or clay oven. In the mountains, shepherds chilled meat by placing it under the running water of cold alpine streams. One ancient method of preserving meat, still practiced in some regions, is to place it in an oxskin, boil the skin in a large kettle, and then bury it deep in the ground. This meat (gudis kaurma) keeps for up to a year. Today most meat is consumed fresh, and the Georgian culinary repertoire is replete with mouth-watering grills and stews.