Soutzoukos

Churchkhela

Type	Confectionery
Place of origin	Georgia
Main ingredients	Grape must, nuts, flour

Churchkhela (Georgian: ჩურჩხელა, Georgian pronunciation: [tʃʰurtʃʰxɛlɑ]) is a traditional Georgian candle-shaped candy. The main ingredients are grape must, nuts and flour. Almonds, walnuts, hazel nuts and sometimes raisins are threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened grape juice or fruit juices and dried in the shape of a sausage.

Churchkhela and its varieties are popular in several countries besides Georgia, such as Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus,Greece, Russia,Ukraine, and Turkey. In Persian, it's known as "Lævascæck Adjili" (لواشک آجیلی). In Armenian, Greek, and Turkish it is known as "sujuk", which is actually a dry sausage. To distinguish the two, it is sometimes referred to as "sweet sujukh" (քաղցր սուջուխ, kaghtsr sujukh) in Armenian and cevizli sucuk ("walnut sujuk") in Turkish. It is known in Cypriot Greek as soutzoukos (σουτζούκος or σουτζιούκκος) and as soutzouki (σουτζούκι) in Greece. The Cypriot variety is made by dipping strings of almonds into jelly, called palouzes or moustalevria.

Churchkhela is a homemade Georgian product. Georgians usually make Churchkhela in Autumn when the primary ingredients, grapes and nuts, are harvested. It is a string of walnut halves that have been dipped in grape juice called Tatara or Phelamushi (grape juice thickened with flour), and dried in the sun. No sugar is added to make real Churchkhela. Instead of walnuts, sometimes nuts or almonds are used in the regions of west Georgia. The shape of Churchkhela looks like a candle, but some people say it looks like a sausage. Georgian warriors carried Churchkhelas with them because they contain many calories. The best Churchkhela is made in Kakheti region, which is renowned as the motherland of wine.

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Wikipedia