სოუსი

At least I think it is called სოუსი in Georgian; that’s the most likely transliteration of the name given in the recipe book (sousi) and I found it on a cookery webpage in Georgian, but am still not completely convinced.

Anyway it was a delicious beef stew. Recipe as follows:

2 pounds/1 kilo of stewing beef, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 1/4 sticks of butter (which I took to mean a standard 250g pack)

3 medium onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 pounds/1 kilo of potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 pounds/1 kilo of tomatoes, peeled and seeded (or two 450g tins)
2 bay leaves
4 cups of chopped cilantro, which I took to mean an entire punnet of coriander from the supermarket
4 cups of chopped basil, likewise
1 green pepper, chopped
1 hot red pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of water
Freshly ground black pepper
garlic to taste

Place the meat in a Dutch oven (ie Le Creuset pot or similar) and cook, covered, over low heat until it begins to sweat. Without adding any liquid, braise the meat for about 10 minutes, stirring once. Uncover the pan and turn the heat to high. Cook for another 10 minutes, until liquid evaporates. This was a bit hairy – I was not convinced at first that the meat would produce enough liquid via this technique. It did, though I would have been better to cut the pieces smaller.

Add butter at this point, and cook meat over medium heat for about 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until it browns. Next, add onions and potatoes and cook for 5 more minutes.

Puree the tomatoes and add to the pan along with the remaining ingredients, seasoning to taste with pepper. Mix well. Simmer, covered for one hour.

What really lifted my spirits about this meal is that B, who had been grumpy and unable to communicate with us all day, really loved it, actually dancing for joy between forkfuls of meat and potatoes. She is the least fussy eater of the three children, and was not at all perturbed by the presence of hot peppers. The recipe claims to be enough for 4 to 6, but between two adults and a hungry nine-year-old we finished it all up.

 pointed out as we licked our lips afterwards that for all this is presented as a typical traditional Georgian recipe, several of the vital ingredients – potatoes, tomatoes, both types of pepper – must have arrived in Georgia some centuries after The Knight in the Tiger Skin left. I’m sure Georgian cooking was pretty good even before 1492, but I bet that the introduction of said new ingredients has done no harm at all.

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