Mtsvadi

What makes it mtsvadi

• Pork neck or lamb, in big chunks, lightly seasoned.
• Grilled over vine cuttings.
• Raw onion, pomegranate and tkemali on the side.

Where it comes from

Kakheti, in the east, is Georgia's great wine region, and after the pruning there are vine cuttings to burn — their fast, hot embers are what mtsvadi should be cooked over. It's the centre of many a supra, and of summer days out in the vineyards.

It's kept plain: salt, pepper, perhaps onion, and good meat. The seasoning comes at the table — sliced raw onion, pomegranate seeds and a bottle of tkemali.

How it varies

Lamb mtsvadi

Lamb in place of pork, often with pieces of fat threaded between.