On mom’s grunts: recipe for the famous Georgian soup

The most famous Georgian soup in Georgia is rarely met on a festive table. Here they are accustomed to cook Harcho on weekdays, because in fullness this dish is not inferior to the whole grief of snacks from a solemn dinner

And which meat is best suited for hard? If you answer the “lamb”, then you will be mistaken again. They really love to cook Harcho in the mountainous regions of Georgia – Tushetia and Khavsuretia from lamb, but for this, a poultry, fish, and beef of the broth, which give the broth the necessary navar. Most often, the beef goes to Harcho. The meat of mountain cows, known in the Caucasus since ancient times, is distinguished by tenderness and juiciness. Aristotle wrote about these animals in the 4th century BC. e.: “On Fasis (Rioni River. – approx. Ed.) there are small cows, of which each gives a lot of milk “.

And one more question, the answer to which it seems to be obvious: Harcho is soup? It turns out not always. In Western Georgia, this is the name of the second dish with a dense gravy. The meat is cut for him in large pieces, stewed for a long time, spices and walnuts are placed in the sauce (they are sometimes added to the soup), but the rice is not used. Mamalyga (corn flour with brine cheese) or elarji in a sangian (potato puree with melted suluguni) is going on to the side dish.

According to one version, the name of the dish comes from the Georgian word “Harsh”, which means “cook”. In ancient Georgian culinary books you can find a dish called “Harsho”. He was appreciated for the convenience of preparation: the hostess can calmly deal with other things, while the meat languishes for hours in a clay pot, and closer to the end of the cooking should be thrown there plum, onion, spices and rice.

Meat, rice, plums – the basic elements of Kharcho, but without which this soup is definitely impossible to imagine, and the whole Caucasian cuisine is local spicy herbs. From their seeds, the famous mixture of hops-sunales is prepared. Its composition may contain up to a dozen ingredients. The main ones are the coriander, which gives the bitterness and at the same time emphasizes the taste of other herbs, the Imeretinsky saffron (velvet), which is responsible for the sweetish flavor, and the school-suneli (hay familow), which improves digestion and creates an unforgettable aroma of the dish.

It would seem that the hearty, sharp, warming Kharcho of the housewives should cook only in the cold season, but this is not so. The love of Kharcho is so great that it is served on the table all year round. There are hundreds of recipes for this dish, but for each Georgian, my mother was preparing the best kharcho, his taste always and everywhere reminds of his native house.

Kharcho

Recipe

How many servings: 6
Cooking time: 2 hours

Beef sternum (in half bones and meat) – 1.3 kg
Water – 3 l
Rice – 150 g
Bulb onions – 3 heads
Tomatoes – 2-3 pcs.
Tomato paste – 3 tbsp. l.
Powder red pepper – 2 pcs.

Bay leaf – 2 pcs.
Parsley – 1 branch
Dill – 1 branch
Cinza – 2 branches
A mixture of spices for kharcho – 1.5 tbsp. l.
Garlic – half a year
Salt – taste

1. Rinse the brisket with beef, separate the meat from the bones and cut it into pieces. All together put in a pan with water, bring to a boil, remove the foam, salt and cook for about an hour over low heat. Get the meat from the pan and put it on a plate.

2. Add a whole patch, cook another half hour. Put tomato paste, languish for half an hour.

3. Finely chop tomatoes and onions, add to the broth. Put boiled meat and rice there. Cook for 15 minutes.

4. Pour spices, add finely chopped garlic and greens after five minutes, put a bay leaf. Remove from heat and let the soup brew for 10-15 minutes. Serve with lavash.

Photos: Sergey Milyanchikov, Grigory Polyakovsky