Walnut Churchkhela From MADLIANI2017

By Tika Bujiashvili

Soon New Year will be celebrated in Georgia. It is the most important celebration. It’s a time of giving to show our loved ones how much we care and appreciate them. Presents, family dinner, beautiful tree, and decorations are all part of New Year holiday. The Georgian New Year Table is one of the outstanding among its kind. It’s a tradition when a Georgian man does everything to lay out a complete New Year table and lots of delicious food is eaten on that day. No New Year’s table is without churchkelas!

What is Churchkhela?

“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 and dried in the sun.” Wikipedia says, though it doesn’t mention where to buy it and how to know if it is a good quality.Generally, the best Churchkhela is made in Kakheti region, which is known as the motherland of wine. Aptsiauris family decided to produce high quality churchklas. They formed ‘MADLIANI 2017’ and decided to start up market. The success exceeded their expectation.As Tamar Aptsiauri, co-owner of MADLIANI 2017 says, the main key of their success is ingredients. They use Georgian walnuts from Tianeti region, Rkatsiteli grape juice from Gurjaani and Lomtagora wheat flour. They also follow old traditions of Churchkhela making.