Khachapuri is a traditional Georgian dish of cheese-filled bread. The bread is leavened and allowed to rise and is shaped in various ways, usually with cheese in the middle and a crust which is ripped off and used to dip in the cheese. The filling contains cheese, eggs and other ingredients. In 22 January, 2019 with the order of The CEO of National agency for cultural heritage of Georgia, Nikoloz Antidze- The tradition of the authentic Georgian Khachapuri pastries was given the status of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia. The initiator of this was LTD "Gunda", led by Nana Dolidze and Levan Qoqiashvili. Currently the same people are working on making UNESCO proclaim the Tradition of Khachapuri as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is very popular in Georgia, both in restaurants and as street food. As a Georgian staple food, the price of making khachapuri is used as a measure of inflation in different Georgian cities by the "khachapuri index," developed by the International School of Economics at Tbilisi State University. It is Georgia's national dish that is inscribed on the list of the Intangible cultural heritage of Georgia. On the behalf and initiative of Gastronomic Association of Georgia, the 27th of February was announced as the National Khachapuri Day, to celebrate Georgia’s timeless signature pastry as well as to promote its recognition internationally.
Types
There are several distinctive types of khachapuri in Georgian food from different regions of Georgia:
Imeretian, Khachapuri is the most popular form, made by pastry infused with yeast and white Imeretian salted cheese.
Adjarian A boat-shaped Khachapuri, with cheese, butter and egg yolk in the middle. It is thought to originate from the lazi people, who were sailors. Khachapuri is a certain representation of the boat, sea and sun.
Megrelian khachapuri, similar to Imeritian but with more cheese added on top.
Achma, from Abkhazia, which has multiple layers and looks more like a sauceless lasagna.
Gurian khachapuri has boiled eggs inside the dough and looks like a calzone. Arguably, it is not a type of khachapuri. Gurians make them for Christmas and call them simply 'Christmas pie'. In the rest of Georgia, it is called 'Gurian pie'.
Ossetian khachapuri, which has potato, as well as cheese in its filling. It is commonly called Khabizgini.
Samtskhe–Javakhetian Penovani khachapuri is made with puff pastry dough, resulting in a flaky variety of the pie.
Outside Georgia
Khachapuri is popular in the post-Soviet states, including Russia, where it is usually a simple puff pastry with cheese filling. It was reported that 175,000 khachapuris were consumed during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Khachapuri is a popular street food in Armenia, where it is widely served in restaurants and school cafeterias. It has become increasingly popular as a brunch food in Israel, where it is brought over by Georgian Jews.
