Learn how to prepare Georgia’s iconic New Year’s sweet, gozinaki, and try making it at home!
Learn how to prepare Georgia’s iconic New Year’s sweet, gozinaki, and try making it at home!
Gozinaki is an iconic Georgian sweet that is especially popular during New Year celebrations. According to tradition, people share a piece of Gozinaki, wishing each other a “sweet life”. This delightful blend of walnuts and honey has, over the centuries, become an integral part of Georgian cuisine, symbolizing not just holiday traditions but also the warmth and unity of New Year’s gatherings and shared celebrations.
In Georgia, honey and walnuts have been regarded as sacred foods since ancient times. In Georgian culture, walnuts are more than just a culinary ingredient; they hold symbolic meaning, representing nature’s protective power and strength. The earliest versions of Gozinaki originated in Georgia’s mountainous regions, where people needed a nutritious and delicious sweet that could be stored for weeks. They eventually discovered the perfect solution in Gozinaki. Its captivating taste quickly won hearts, becoming a beloved treat found on tables across the entire country.
Ingredients of Gozinaki
Gozinaki is made with two key ingredients: honey and walnuts. Together, they form a unique flavor that delights anyone who tries it. Occasionally, variations of the sweet include hazelnuts or almonds, adding a new twist to the traditional recipe.
Making Gozinaki is an interesting and enjoyable process that requires careful attention, especially when combining the honey and walnuts. Below is the traditional recipe for this beloved Georgian sweet:
Preparation of Ingredients:
First, the walnuts are shelled, roasted, and their skins removed using a cloth. Then, they are finely chopped, ready to be mixed with the honey.
Cooking the Honey:
The honey is heated in a deep, thick-bottomed pan over low heat, stirred constantly. It is brought to a boil and foamed three times, with cooling periods in between. The readiness of the honey is checked by dropping a small amount into water—if it doesn’t spread out, it’s ready.
Mixing and Shaping:
Once the honey is ready, the roasted walnuts are added, along with powdered sugar, and the mixture is stirred. After about 5 minutes, when the mixture turns golden, it is transferred to a water-moistened board, spread evenly while still warm, and cut into diamond shapes with a knife. The Gozinaki is then left to cool and set before serving.
At Kvareli Wine Cave, we’ve made the process of making Gozinaki an enjoyable and interactive experience for our guests. We are proud to be pioneers of this service in Georgia and hope that all visitors will enjoy making Gozinaki here, and then make it again at home to share with family and friends, wishing each other a ‘sweet life”.
The taste of our gozinaki is exceptionally wonderful thanks to the high-quality ingredients we use. Our honey is produced at the Mukhuri Beehive Farm, known for its bees with the longest stings, which results in honey with a perfect flavor. This honey is bio-certified by the EU and is considered by experts to be the most delicious honey available. Additionally, the walnuts used in our Gozinaki come from our own farms, using indigenous Georgian varieties.
The combination of these two amazing ingredients, along with the warmth of our hearts, creates an unforgettable taste and memories when making Gozinaki at Kvareli Wine Cave.