Word lid van een Local voor een markttour, kookles en maaltijd in haar Tbilisi Home

Tina met us at Desertiz Bazar in the morning, we had a 30min walk around the market and selected everything we needed. One of us did not eat meat, one ate everything, and one was a child - Tina attended to all of our needs, and we chose only the products that would meet our need, which is super cool. Then we drove to Tinas place, and started cooking. About 10 different meals, which was way more than enough :) Then our son got sleepy, so Tina aranged a bed for him to sleep in, and he slept there for more than an hour :) We finished eating around noon, and we really enjoyed the whole experience.

Tina was a wonderful host. Asked me what I would like to make and helped with recipes. Really nice to be in the home of a local.

When I saw the sentence “likely to sell out” next to this cooking class I knew it was going to be the most memorable cooking class in my life, and it WAS! I’m still getting people asking me about it and telling me that they’d love to try it out after seeing the posts in my social media. We cooked a few of the most authentic dishes in Georgia and they turned out extremely delicious, and the best part is that you can choose what dishes you want to cook, then you go to the market and shop for the ingredients before starting the class. In fact it didn’t feel like a class it felt like cooking with my aunt. Mrs Tina was extremely hospitable and sweet there was literally no dull moment with her. To sum it up, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by booking this class

This was a unique experience! It was a rather unstructured, chaotic sort of evening. The host is Tina and the website needs updating as the pictures and description refer to her daughter Teo, who hasn't been running the event for several years. We basically sat in Tina's kitchen as she cooked huge quantities of Georgian food. We liked meeting her family and she was a lovely lady.

Do not hesitate to discover this golden family! Visiting the market is very convenient, Tina answers all your questions and at home it is a little piece of paradise out of time. The house of happiness where you will feast. It is a great moment of sharing that you will not be able to do without!!

We first took a trip to the market, which is an experience in itself. You will cook and talk and learn a lot about culture and history, basically anything you would like to know about Georgia. Be prepared to spend more time than planned (should you want to) 😊

My sister and I took this tour, Teona's mom, Tina was the hostess of this experience, she welcomed us to her home first and introduced us to her beautiful family, then she took us to the local market to get some food and stuff for whatever we wanted to cook with her (yes, she asked us to choose whatever we fancy to try from the Georgian cousine) and then back to her home to prepare for the cooking class and wonderful meal, she offered drinks and prepared the table with EVERYTHING, bread, georgian pickles, Tkhemali(special georgian plum sauce) she cooked us Mchadi, Romi, lobio, walnut dip and ofcourse the amazing Khinkali, she put all her heart into that and gave us all the tips to cook everything for our parents back at home. She treated us like her own daughters, she tried so so hard to help us find tickets to the theatre puppet show, her husband and children were the most amazing people ever, we had so much fun together, we laughed we even introduced the family to our own family through a video call, that's how comfortable they made us feel, her daughter Irena was soo nice, funny and helpful she recommended nice touristic places and even gave us a ride home at the end. Can't say enough about this experience it's WONDERFUL, a must try.

Unfortunately, Teo wasn't home. But mom Tina is actually the cook in the house. In a mixture of English and Russian first to the store. More than 3 kg of ingredients later we start cooking. Deliciously tasty and hearty. In between, the youngest children occasionally come to eat some treats in the kitchen. What I didn’t realize is that I was also supposed to eat all those 3 kg of dishes on site or take them in boxes to the hotel to continue for the rest of the week. At the goodbye, Teo finally came home. What an enthusiastic sweet girl she was. We will definitely return as a friend!

We spent a lovely evening learning how a typical Georgian family lives.. Teo, a recent med school grad, welcomed us into her home where we met her mom and several younger brothers and sisters. We accompanied her to her local market where she selected cheese and vegetables/fruit for our dinner and appetizers. We also stopped to pick up some warm baked bread. We helped her assemble a lovely dinner after we feasted on her father’s homemade wine and honey along with several cheeses and bread. Then we helped her make salad, eggplant, chicken in tomato and vegetable sauce and cornmeal porridge (like polenta) and cornmeal and cheese fried balls. The best thing was talking with her and her mom about their culture and our culture and getting to know them on a personal basis.

I've just come back from shopping buying walnuts. Why? Because I want to make this tasty & easy Georgian dip which I was introduced to by a very lovely lady during my stay in Tbilisi.I am making this dip for the second time now because friends & guests LOVE it ! It was taught to me while attending a cooking class. I was very reluctant to taste it at first because I am not crazy about anything with nuts.The nice Georgian lady ( Tina ) however convinced me otherwise...... She said that I "MUST " taste it seeing that it is a special,old Georgian recipe. The course was originally supposed to have been given by Tina's daughter , Teona ...however she was not available that day. One of the first things that we did was shopping at some near by local markets.Before we left we studied some recipes to decide what to cook.We decided on 2 chicken dishes made in typical Georgian fashion which were both delicious ! Whilst shopping Tina treated me like a family friend & even introduced me by name . Shopping is done differently there and one can still do shopping like in earlier times where one goes through the markets taking their time & examining the chickens very closely. I still do not know how they find out if a chicken is fresh or not but Tina certainly knows ! When we returned home we recuperated with a nice glass of homemade red wine made by Tina's husband. It is not surprising since Georgia is known for really good wine. . I loved it. We started cooking. I was cutting all kinds of vegetables, onions and garlic. Tina was preparing the chicken telling me in between how it has to be done. I had to do that with supervision .... think I did it right. We were a good team! The result was excellent and it tasted delicious !After finishing eating I was about to help clear the table. That is when Tina stopped me and said : " Just enjoy the moment and leave it there.... Let's chat !,.. We can clear the table later." And that is what we did! I learned a lot about the early and late history of Georgia since I could talk to a very highly educated friend. Yes,now I would say that because I truly felt like being part of the family. Instead of leaving at 13:00 I left at 16:00 ! That should tell you everything! I tried the chicken dishes back home... they tasted good but not as good as Tina's ! I will try it again. At the end ,Tina said that I had to try that walnut dip. " This is what we Georgians always have in the fridge. Believe me it tastes good! " So I accepted ... and I am glad that I did.... this dip is sensational! It tastes good with a piece of bread or with a piece of vegetable or as a side of a normal dish . You can combine it with everything! I am so glad that I had it and learned how to make it .... it takes only a couple a minutes . It is heavenly... but you really have to know how to make it. And there is only Tina who will tell you, NOT ME! To everyone who enjoys great Georgian cuisine...THIS is the course I would recommend ! I would certainly do this again in a heart beat. Not just because Georgian food is so rich and diverse, but because I would love to meet up with a friend again, Thank you / მადლობა Tina! Thomas