Georgia is one of the few countries where bread is baked in the old folk way - in "Tone" ovens.

Georgian bread is often confused with Armenian bread and is called lavash. Not true. Lavash is Armenian bread (thin), and tonis puri is Georgian ( This is a fluffy flatbread that is eaten hot)...Translated it means. - "puri" - bread, "tonis" - from the stove tone

Thonis puri is made using ancient technology and its recipe is passed down from generation to generation.

Georgian bread is very diverse. I will list the most popular types:

mrgvili (round)
shoti (sickle-shaped)
dedas-puri (long)
puri (kvass bread)

The recipe for this bread is simple - water - flour and salt. An interesting technology for baking bread... Look at the tone and see that the cakes literally stuck to the wall. Question: why don’t they fall off and hold on?

The secret is that the oven has a certain temperature, or rather 300 degrees (it is at this temperature that the bread will not fall).

It also depends on whether the dough is good.
If a baker sticks dough pieces to the hot walls of the oven and some of them suddenly fall off, it means the dough is bad, and the baker’s further work will be in big doubt.

It is still baked in the old folk way - in ovens called “tone”. Bread in Georgian is “puri”, so it turns out “tonis puri”, literally “bread from the oven”.

Tone in Georgia is on almost every street. The smell of freshly baked bread spreads along the street, filling all the nooks and crannies. Few people bring it home whole: it is simply impossible to resist pinch off the fragrant crispy crust along the way, because the most delicious bread is hot, straight from the oven.

Georgian bread weighs about 300-400 grams and costs, depending on the size, from 80 tetri to one lari (about 30 - 40 cents).

Secrets of tonis puri

The tone oven is like a stone well. It is dug into the ground and lined with clay bricks on the inside. The fire burns at the bottom, and the bread bakes on the walls.

Georgian bread baked in tone comes in different shapes - round, oblong, with rounded corners - "dedis puri" (mother's bread), and shoti - diamond-shaped, with elongated ends.

© photo: Sputnik / Anna Yarovikova

The shape of the Georgian shoti with pointed ends is a tribute to tradition, and the hole in the middle of the bread is a necessary technological attribute. Without it, the hot air inside the bread will expand and the whole bread will rise and turn into a big bubble.

Shoti, which consists of flour, water, salt and yeast, is kneaded to a thick dough, then a flat cake of the required shape is formed, which the baker molds to the walls of an oven heated to 300 degrees. It is at this temperature that the bread will not fall, but will be fried until golden brown. For baking crispy fragrant bread on average it takes 10-15 minutes.

In Georgian villages, stoves still operate on wood, but in the city they have long switched to gas burners. Villagers claim that their bread, with a slight aroma of smoke, tastes better than city bread. This is the same difference as with barbecue cooked in the city, on ready-made coals, and in nature, on a live fire.

Ancient traditions

In ancient times, Georgians stored “purisdeda” - soured dough from previous baking - in a special clay pot "kochobi". “Purisdeda” was diluted in warm water and mixed with a small amount of flour, left for a day, after which the well-soured mass was added to the flour and thoroughly mixed with water and salt.

To prepare the dough we used hop yeast or beer.

Evgenia Shabaeva

Photo from the series "Peragon" (Georgia)

The dough was kneaded and matured in a special vessel - “warzli”. Then it was cut into pieces - “gunda”, laid out on an “oromi” board and covered with a towel. Meanwhile, the walls of the hot stove were sprinkled with salt water - this was called “feeding with salt.” This way the dough was better attached to the vertical wall of the oven, and the surface of the freshly baked golden steaming bread became saltier and tastier.

Traditionally, round bread was baked first, and then, an oblong shotispuri was placed into the already slightly cooled “tone”. After cooling, the bread was stored in wooden grain storage facilities - kidobani.

As a rule, bread was baked once a week; during baking, a small family feast was held with cold wine, fresh cheese, pickles and hot, crusty bread.

Warriors Bread

The "Shoti" shape, a sickle-shaped Georgian bread, was baked in the Kakheti region, the technology, recipe and shape of the bread have been preserved there to this day. The peculiarities of “Shotis puri” are that it is easy to bake and it cools quickly. And for the mountainous regions of Georgia, the shape of the loaf was typical. In the mountains there were special ovens in which Georgian loaves were baked; this tradition was preserved until the 20th century.

75959 10

A

Aydov- Yugoslav round bread made from wheat and buckwheat flour.
Aknan- Kazakh butter cake sprinkled with sesame seeds or chopped onions.
Amysh- Ossetian flatbread from corn flour.
Aragats- Armenian round wheat flatbread with thick edges and a thin middle, the dough is kneaded with milk.
Arnaut- Ukrainian wheat bun.

B

D

Jabatta- Italian wheat bread With various additives: olives, nuts and seasonings.
Juibori

AND

Jemle- Yugoslav oblong wheat bun.

AND

Ikmek- Tatar Rye bread.
Looking for- Syrian thin wheat flatbread, hollow inside (similar to pita).

TO

Kavarpa- Kazakh wheat flatbread, reminiscent of Russian crumpets, fried in hot oil.
Kada - rich puff bread with sweet filling from flour and sugar with butter.
Kaiser- Belgian round bread made from a mixture of wheat and rye flour, sprinkled with poppy seeds.
Kalach- wheat bread, shaped like a castle with a bow.
Kalinnik- Ukrainian White bread, where a quarter of the flour consists of dry berries, ground into powder.
Loaf - large round bread.
Katyrma- Uzbek wheat flatbread instant cooking with the addition of onions or lamb cracklings to the dough.
Katlama In Tajikistan it is called “kalama”, in Turkmenistan - “gatlama”.
Katnaunts is an Armenian wheat flatbread.
Kömöch- small butter cakes the size of a large coin, baked in ash, which are placed in hot milk and flavored with butter. Colachel is a Moldovan wheat bread.
Corneti- Yugoslav wheat bars up to 5 cm long.
Crown- French holiday wheat bread in the form big ring.
Pretzel - twisted wheat bread. According to legend, manna suddenly rained down from the sky on the monks of one of the monasteries, from which they baked delicious bread, giving it the shape of a figure eight, similar to hands folded in a prayer of thanks.
Croissant - a traditional French product made from puff pastry, similar to our bagel.
Crouton- a basket cut from white bread and dried in the oven, for filling with salad or pieces of hot food.
Kuglof- Yugoslav shaped butter bread made from wheat flour.
Kuklid- Estonian salted buns with cumin made from wheat flour.
Kulich- sweet, very rich tall white bread, always with raisins or candied fruits, which, according to Orthodox tradition, is prepared for Easter.
Kulcha - Tajik and Uzbek round wheat flatbread with thickened edges and a depression in the middle. Kumach is an Uzbek flatbread made from wheat flour.
Coupons- Georgian wide rectangular bread made from wheat flour.

L

Pita- Armenian thin flatbread made from wheat flour, which is baked on the heated walls of a special oven - tonira. Traditionally considered a symbol of joy and peace.
Lazzat- Tajik wheat flatbread.
Leipya- Finnish unleavened rye bread made from flour coarse in the form of biscuit tiles.
Cake- a simple round product made from baked dough, the most ancient form of bread.
Lochira- Uzbek rich wheat flatbread with a salty taste.

M

Madauri - Georgian lavash unusual shape: round and thick at one end, thin and pointed at the other. It bakes very quickly - in 3-4 minutes.
Matnakash- Armenian bread in the form of a thick flatbread made from wheat flour. Before baking, the surface of the dough is brushed with sweet tea leaves. Matzah (unleavened bread) is unleavened Jewish bread in the form of thin, crispy flatbreads.
Meshuplazenitis- Latvian fried flatbread from barley groats.
Mochi- Japanese round glutinous rice bread.
Mrgvali- Georgian bread.
Mchadi- Georgian flatbread made from corn flour, baked in a frying pan over coals.

N

Naan- Indian wheat flatbread, the dough of which includes yogurt.
Nan- a word meaning flatbread among the Iranians, Kyrgyz and many other peoples of Central Asia.
Nazuk- Armenian butter flatbread with the addition of cinnamon and saffron, which gives it a yellow color.

P

Payvand- Uzbek flatbread.
Palyanitsa- Ukrainian wheat fluffy loaf.
Dumplings- Ukrainian small wheat buns, traditionally served with borscht.
Paratas- Indian wheat flatbread with the addition of ghee from buffalo milk.
Patyr- Uzbek thick semi-bread flatbread, greased with lamb lard or sour cream.
Patyrcha- Uzbek flatbread.
Pegach- Armenian wheat flatbread, greased with thick syrup before baking.
Gun- a small French bun made from wheat flour.
Pete - a flat small flatbread originally from the Middle East. The inside is always hollow, which makes it easy to fill with different fillings.
Pishma- Turkmen wheat flatbread, similar to Uzbek samsa.
Network- oblong twisted white bread.
Hearth- bread baked on special sheets in the lower part of the oven (on the hearth).
Prosphora- wheat bread made from hard dough for Orthodox communion.
Puri- Indian wheat flatbread, which is fried in hot oil, which makes it fluffy.

R

Bagel (horn)- a small narrow white loaf in the shape of a semicircle.
Rosinmaizes- Latvian wheat buns with raisins.

WITH

Saika- oblong or round wheat bread.
Samsa- Uzbek wheat flatbread or pie with filling.
Sunbeam- American wheat bread, very airy.
Saiga antelope- very thin Armenian lavash with added to the leaven for dough grape juice and curdled milk, more than a meter long, bake it on hot pebbles.
Saojaho- Georgian wheat bread.
Seppik- Estonian gray bread.
Sitnik (sieve)- bread baked from flour sifted through a sieve.
Very juicy- originally: a flatbread made with hemp oil, it was supposed to be eaten on Christmas Eve - the day before the Nativity of Christ.

T

Tabanan- Kazakh wheat flatbread butter.
Tartlet- a basket of unleavened dough for salads or pate.
Tokash- Kazakh wheat flatbread from sour dough.
Tortillas- flat maize mexican tortillas.
Fucked- Georgian narrow rectangular bread, has the shape of an oblong, slightly curved rectangular flatbread with a strong thickening of one of the longitudinal sides.

F

Fatyr- Tajik wheat flatbread, to the dough of which finely chopped onion.
Focaccia- Italian wheat bread, crispy flatbread.
Shaped- bread baked not on a sheet, but in a special form (for example, a loaf).
Ugh- Japanese bread that looks like transparent paper.

X

Challah- traditional Jewish braid made from wheat flour.

C

Zopf - Swiss Sunday bread.

H

Chabots- Tajik wheat flatbreads, before being placed in the oven they are placed on special pillows to give the required shape. Chakke - Tajik flatbread made with suzma - cottage cheese from fermented milk product(katyka).
Chalpak- Uzbek fried small flatbreads made from plain yeast dough.
Chapati- Indian flatbread made from unleavened dough.
Chappoti (chapads)- Tajik wheat flatbread.
Chapchap- Uzbek thin wheat flatbread.
Chevati- Uzbek thin wheat flatbread made from simple test, which is baked on the walls of a tandoor oven.
Ciabatta- Italian unleavened rectangular wheat bread with golden crust sprinkled with flour.
Churek- Caucasian flat unleavened white bread.

Sh

Shakarats - Armenian buttery sweet breads.
Shakek- Kyrgyz layered wheat bun in the shape of a ring.
Shanga - Ukrainian wheat or Siberian rye flatbread.
Schwarzbrot- German bread made from coarse wholemeal rye flour. Shelpek is a Kazakh thin unleavened flatbread.
Shirmol(screen)- Tajik and Uzbek wheat flatbread, to the dough of which crushed peas and spices are added: anise or cumin. Shot is a narrow flatbread in the shape of a crescent moon with a thickening on the outside. Bread length up to 1 meter.

E

Ekmek- Turkmen wheat flatbread. It is fried in oil in a cauldron, having previously been baked with sour cream or katyk with a second similar flatbread.