Culinary Tourism Perspectives in Georgia
Gastronomy tourism is a good opportunity for Georgia to attract high-paying tourists to the country. Keti Kvichidze, head of the Culinary Expedition and brand chef Goga Maisuradze have talked about these issues on the TV Program Business Partner.
The Georgian culinary tourism sector has huge opportunities for development, to find its special niche among the world’s exotic cuisines. Georgian culinary experts have already revitalized and rebranded 25 forgotten dishes in Georgia. They have looked for recipes for these dishes in the various regions and municipalities of Georgia.
Georgian chefs have brought back 25 dishes from the mountainous regions of Georgia. Visual details were corrected, while the essential flavors were maintained. Georgian culinary tourism should follow this strategy to gain a place among the world’s leading exotic cuisines. To this end, we have found traditional dishes in highland regions and reshaped them with modern visual details, Goga Maisuradze said.
“Keti has found a menu of old traditional dishes from the mountainous regions. We decided to reshape these traditional tastes with new visuals. Finally, we have a beautiful aesthetic. Traditionally, mountainous dishes are rich, with melted butter or pork fat; they are very delicious, but if we introduce these dishes with their old, traditional appearances to a Tbilisi-based restaurants, fewer clients will be interested in them. Therefore, new, techniques and concepts are required. We should balance them, give a new visual to old dishes. We have succeeded in this work. This is how we develop Georgian cuisine; through rebranding them. We have restored and rebranded 25 dishes”, Goga Maisuradze noted.
We have visited every corner of Georgia, seeking traditional dishes, from Hereti to Lazeti, and the new menu will be introduced to visitors of a Gudauri-based hotel on December 15, Keti Kvichidze noted.
Over the past 2-3 years, Georgian cuisine actively competes with the world’s leading cuisines, and we should unite our efforts to successfully finish this process, and popularize Georgian cuisine beyond the Post-Communist space, as well, she noted.
To this end, we should establish many culinary schools and academies, upgrade our level of education, and popularize our cuisine, Keti Kvichidze said.
“It is important to hold as many culinary festivals as possible, to invite foreign chefs, and arrange their master classes. They know techniques that remain unknown to us at this stage. I believe that Georgian should take a place among the world’s leading cuisines. Our traditional ingredients are very flavorful,l and we have been developing this sector rapidly. I have been working in the business of restaurants for 15 years, and this segment has become huge over the past 3 years. Education and popularization remain key problems. We should implement many marketing campaigns and increase our market visibility. The whole industry should be united to develop a joint product. It would be wonderful if the business sector joins in these efforts to revitalize forgotten dishes. We will make rapid progress if we show more creativity, and develop these concepts well”, Keti Kvichidze explained.
In response to the question of whether Georgian cuisine is capable of competing with the world’s leading cuisines, Goga Maisuradze explained that over the past 2-3 years Georgian gastronomy has reached new heights.