“I have loved cooking and tasting dishes since childhood and it gave me great pleasure.

Perhaps that is why I chose the profession of a chef and I realize that I made the right choice, even though I entered the world of cooking at the age of 21.

I have my own style according to which I create each dish, the main idea is to break down the gastronomic stereotypes, artificially created limits that someone once determined, the inconsistency of products that actually combine to create a fabulous and unforgettable taste.

I try to reflect my character in my dishes and I think this method always has a success.

I want to say my word in this world that would be beneficial for the country and future generations.

Today I would like to present to you my interpretation of one of the oldest and ritual desserts in combination with modern confectionery, which has been made in Georgia for centuries and is still made today, unfortunately only in Ksani Kheoba, the existence of which is not known to many people. I wouldn’t have known it either, if not Mrs. Tea Pavliashvili, who is originally from Ksani Kheoba. Mikado is her family’s favorite holiday dessert, and as Mrs. Tea says Mikado was maintained by Ksani nobility and according to the original traditional recipe, pork fat is used in the filling and dough. I would underline this because a product with the same name is made by Armenians and since many Armenians do not eat pork and products made from it, the traditional Mikado is made with pork fat, the Georgian origin of this dish is obvious”- Giorgi Chulukhadze.

step 1

Classic Mikado dough: flour 1 kg, sour cream 250 g, sugar 250 g, salt 10 g, egg 5 pcs, pork fat or butter -120 g. Preparation technology: first beat the eggs, sugar and salt, add Matsoni, then add melted fat (or butter) and finally flour, knead slowly until you get a homogeneous mass of dough. Finally, leave the dough in the fridge for half an hour. Divide the dough into 14 equal parts, roll out the received balls as much as possible. Bake at 180 ° for 15 minutes.

step 2

Mikado filling: 1.5 ml milk, 800 g sugar, 5 g vanilla (or 5-6 drops of vanilla essence), 100 g butter. Preparation technology: Bring the milk to a boil, then add sugar and continue boiling at low temperature, stirring constantly until the mass reaches a caramel consistency. Remove from the heat and knead the butter, distribute the resulting cream mass layer by layer between the baked dough plates. Store the latter for 12 hours under load. Chocolate mousse: sugar 75 g, water 22 ml, egg 30 g, egg yolk 60 g, dark chocolate 130 g, cream 285 g (35%). Preparation technology: first prepare the sugar syrup with water and sugar, at the same time start beating the egg and egg yolk, mix the obtained syrup with the beaten egg. Melt the chocolate on a steam bath, mix the obtained mass with beaten eggs and syrup. Continue mixing until the mass gets cool. Extract the cream by beating up to 80 percent. Mix the cream and chocolate mass together and refrigerate for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

step 3

Almond milk mousse: almond 500 g, water 200 g, almond essence 5 drops, sugar 150 g, gelatin 5 g, cream 200 g. Preparation technology: boil almonds in boiling water for 3 minutes, strain and place in ice for 10 minutes. Peel, grate it and squeeze the juice as much as possible and refrigerate for 12 hours. Drain the obtained milk mass with a fine sieve or medical bandage, make a syrup with sugar and obtained milk. At the same time, dissolve the gelatin in ice water, cool the milk syrup to 30 degrees. Extract the cream up to 80%. Dissolve the melted gelatin as much as possible and mix it with the syrup. Mix the obtained mass with the cream and leave it in fridge for 2 hours. For orange marmalade we will need: 50 g of orange juice and 0.5 g of agar-agar. Preparation: boil the juice, add agar-agar. Put the obtained mass in a low container and wait for it to cool. Then store in the fridge for 10 minutes.

How To Serve

Bon Appetite!