It was Jacques Houdek who once said, ‘Dare to dream, make a meal’ – ok yes, that wasn’t quite the lyric, but with this year’s slogan ‘Dare to Dream’ why not make a few adaptations! With this year’s contest quickly approaching, it’s time to start planning your Eurovision parties. With the help of Eurovision Union, you can plan out the ultimate Eurovision party for you and your friends!
Over the last month, we’ve gathered some of the tastiest and most intriguing dishes from across the participating nations and we have put our aprons on to test out these recipes! We selected a diverse range of food, as well as both savoury and sweet dishes, so if you are hosting a Eurovision party this year, you can take inspiration from our cooking adventures across Europe and recreate these dishes for you and your friends!
Khachapuri (Georgia)
When considering what dishes to put in our Dare to Dream, Make a Meal series, I knew very early on that one of the foods I was desperate to try was Khachapuri. I had seen pictures and videos of this Georgian staple, and it featured everything I could have ever wanted in a food – bread, oozing cheese and an egg. What could possibly go wrong?
Khachapuri is a traditional Georgian dish that has various forms, however the type we tried was the Adjaruli Khachapuri which is formed in a boat shape. There is a bit of labour in creating these Georgian cheese boats, but we think it’s worth it. You can also make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate overnight.
The idea of the Adjaruli Khachapuri is that you par bake the Khachapuri, and then take it out of the oven, pull some of the cheese out from the centre and crack an egg in the middle. You then put it back in the oven for the egg to cook ever so slightly, and then you serve the Khachapuri hot, pulling the bread off the sides to dip into the egg and cheese mixture. Of course you can modify the fillings of this recipe – it may not be as traditional, but food is all about meeting your tastes, so feel free to choose different cheeses or omit the egg.
Here is the recipe we used (credit: Simply Home Cooked):
Prep time: 2 hours
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 20 minutes
Makes: 4
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbsp olive oil
For the filling:
- 1 1/2 cup Farmers cheese
- 1 1/2 cup Shredded mozzarella
- 1 1/2 cup Feta cheese
- 4 eggs + 1 for egg wash
- unsalted butter optional
Instructions:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the salt, yeast, sugar, and flour.
- Heat water and milk to about 115 degrees Fahrenheit [approx. 46 degrees Celsius]. Then pour it into the bowl of dry ingredients.
- Begin kneading the dough with the hook attachment until it’s close to being smooth and elastic.
- Add the oil into the dough and knead for another minute.
- Drizzle a little bit of olive oil onto the bottom and sides of a deep bowl. Place the dough inside the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set the bowl in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
- Remove the plastic wrap and press into the dough a few times with your hands. Cover with plastic wrap once more and let it sit in a warm place for another 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the farmers cheese, feta, and mozzarella in a bowl.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and place it onto a floured surface. Then cut it into 4 equal pieces.
- Spread each piece of the dough into a circle about 9 inches [Approx. 23cm] in diameter. Then roll 2 opposite sides of the circle towards the centre so it ends up have a boat like shape. Then pinch the corners together.
- Transfer the khachapuri onto a baking sheet lined with greased parchment paper.
- Stuff each khachapuri with the cheese mixture. Beat 1 egg with a teaspoon of water, then brush the dough with egg wash.
- Bake in a preheated 450 degrees [230 degrees Celsius*] oven for about 15 minutes or until the crust becomes golden brown.
- Make a well in the centre of each khachapuri with the back of a spoon (about 3 inches in diameter) and drop 1 egg into each well. Then stick a few small pieces of butter into the cheese.
- Return the khachapuri back into the oven and bake for another 5-6 minutes. Cooking time may vary depending on your oven. The egg white should be white but still pretty runny. It will cook further as it sits in the hot cheese. When serving, mix the cheese and egg with a fork and serve immediately.
*We found this to be too hot for our oven, and so we baked the Khachapuri at around 200 degrees Celsius
Here’s what we started with:
And here is our finished product!
Beer List
Our resident beer expert has done research (and a whole lot of tasting) to come up with some of the must-try beers of the nation. For each nation there are three suggestions:
- The National Treasure – this is a beer that is recognisable and accessible to buy
- The Party Starter – this is a nicer alternative, but still fairly accessible to buy
- The Show Stopper – this is for the beer enthusiasts or those with a sense of adventure, but may not be as easy to purchase outside of that nation
Georgia
The National Treasure – Natakhtari Beer (Pale Lager – 5.0%)
The Party Starter – Argo Dark (Dark Lager – 4.8%)
The Show Stopper – Black Lion IPA (American IPA – 5.2%)
Listen to our Dare to Dream, Make a Meal playlist below: