A boat-shaped bread from the Black Sea coast, filled with molten cheese and crowned with a raw egg and pat of butter — one of Georgia's most dramatic edible experiences.
Adjarian Khachapuri comes from the Adjara region on Georgia's Black Sea coast, and it looks like no other bread in the world. The dough is shaped into a long oval boat, filled generously with sulguni and imeruli cheese, then baked until the edges are golden and the filling is bubbling. At the last moment, an egg yolk is cracked into the center and a knob of butter dropped on top — both melt from the residual heat. You eat it by tearing off the crusty ends and using them to stir the yolk and butter into the molten cheese. The ritual is part of the experience. In Batumi, the capital of Adjara, variations abound — some add cream, some use whole eggs, some go extra on the butter. But the core logic is unchanged: a vessel of bread holding a sea of cheese. Khachapuri in general is Georgia's national dish in all but name, sold everywhere from roadside stalls to wedding tables. The Adjarian version, called Adjaruli Khachapuri, is the showstopper — the one people travel to Georgia specifically to eat while staring at the Black Sea.
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