georgian delights - churchkhela
Take walnuts, a whole lot of them. Crush the shells, break the nuts into smaller pieces and string them onto a thin cotton thread. Fill a huge pot with grape juice and sugar and let it simmer along while you are busy with the walnuts. When you are ready, add a little flour to the grapes and bring the whole mix to a boil to thicken the juice. Now slowly dip the walnut strings into it and pull them out gently. A thick coat of grape gum will stick to the walnuts and dry around them. The result looks like very dark smoked sausage (which is what I thought it was when I first saw one). You need to hang the strings to dry for a few hours and — voila — the perfect healthy snack. It’s the right combination of walnuts and sweet and just a hint of sour and you can keep them for as long as you like — best in a dry and dark place.
The end result is called Churchkhela, but you could get hurt trying to pronounce it.
Here is what the whole procedure looks like (courtesy of grandmother Babutsidze):
