Kharcho
Encyclopedia
Kharcho is a traditional Georgian soup
containing meat, rice, vegetables and a highly spiced bouillon
. The soup is usually served with finely chopped herbs. The characteristic ingredients of the soup are sun-dried plum purée (tklapi/tkemali
) and grated walnuts
.
As with all soups, there are numerous variations; however, 3 components are key and cannot be replaced : walnuts, plum sauce (pomegranate juice can be substituted instead) and beef broth.
An example of a Georgian recipe for Kharcho:
Cut a cleaned, thoroughly washed piece of beef into pieces, put it into a sauce-pan, add shredded onions, close the cover, and place the pan on the fire. Stew until the onions turn brown, then cover the pieces with boiling water and add peeled, finely chopped tomatoes. Pound walnuts, garlic, dry and fresh coriander, pepper, and saffron in a mortar and put them into a small bowl. Gradually add broth using a tablespoon and thoroughly stir the mass. Pour the mass into the pan and boil until cooked. Add salt to taste. .
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
containing meat, rice, vegetables and a highly spiced bouillon
Bouillon (broth)
Bouillon, in French cuisine, is simply a broth. This name comes from the verb bouillir, meaning to boil. It is usually made by the simmering of mirepoix and aromatic herbs with either beef, veal, or poultry bones and/or with shrimp, or vegetables in boiling water.This is not to be confused with...
. The soup is usually served with finely chopped herbs. The characteristic ingredients of the soup are sun-dried plum purée (tklapi/tkemali
Tkemali
Tkemali is the Georgian name for the Plum Sauce, as well as a sauce made of cherry plums. Tkemali is made from both red and green varieties of plum. The flavor of the sauce varies between sweet and pungently tart. To lower the tartness level, occasionally sweeter types of plums are added during...
) and grated walnuts
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
.
As with all soups, there are numerous variations; however, 3 components are key and cannot be replaced : walnuts, plum sauce (pomegranate juice can be substituted instead) and beef broth.
An example of a Georgian recipe for Kharcho:
Cut a cleaned, thoroughly washed piece of beef into pieces, put it into a sauce-pan, add shredded onions, close the cover, and place the pan on the fire. Stew until the onions turn brown, then cover the pieces with boiling water and add peeled, finely chopped tomatoes. Pound walnuts, garlic, dry and fresh coriander, pepper, and saffron in a mortar and put them into a small bowl. Gradually add broth using a tablespoon and thoroughly stir the mass. Pour the mass into the pan and boil until cooked. Add salt to taste. .