Republic of Georgia – The Abkhazia Problem and Abkhazia Food – 6.24.26
Last night a few folks from our trip went out to a late dinner at a restaurant called Amra for Abkhaz cuisine. Jonathan, the owner of Supra, wanted to go there because the food from that region of Georgia is unique. But sadly, that region is no longer a part of Georgia.
While Abkhazia is recognized by most countries, including the United Nations, as a separate republic inside of Georgia, it really is not. The border between Abkhazia and Georgia has been closed since 2020 and you can now only enter the country through Russia. To be blunt, It has become a Russian puppet state. It is a complicated situation (a huge understatement) and has become a very sad story on all sides, especially for the Abkhazian speaking people and the Georgian speaking people who live there, who are now a much smaller part of the population. The closest thing I can compare it to is Ireland and Northern Ireland. So, I will not be going there because it is not safe to do so.
I am going to “attempt a very short history” because there are so many lessons we can all learn from this sad story. And in my feeble attempt, I am going to oversimplify almost every aspect of this very complicated mess. Despite this attempt, the explanation will remain longer than I would like. As an aside, can you tell I woke up at 1 a.m. in Tbilisi this morning (9 a.m. EST) with nothing better to do?
Located in the most Northwestern part of Georgia, the Abkhazia region is on the Black Sea coast in the Caucasus mountains. See the map. Abkhazia and Georgia have shared a long historical heritage and culture going back to the 8th century when the entire region separated from the Byzantine empire and formed its own autonomous empire until the Moguls came in the 13th century and broke it up. The Moguls did so to more easily control the region and population. And then the Ottomans came and did the same thing – divide and conquer…
Remember from my previous post when I mentioned that Georgia became one of the first regions of the Roman Empire to embrace Christianity and still has a very high Orthodox Christian population today? So, sick of the Ottomans, who were Muslim, the eastern provinces of Georgia came to Russia for help in the early 1800’s. Another lesson – be careful what you wish for – the Germans in the 1930’s are an example of this and as Americans, we need to be careful today. The recent movie Nuremberg, which I watched on the plane, reminded me of this as well.
And help the Russians did, taking away other provinces from the Ottoman Empire including Abkhazia and bringing the entire Georgia region into the THEIR Empire. And what did Russia do? It implemented a Russification policy, which included replacing local language, customs and religious practices with Russian. The irony is that in some ways, especially to the Abkhaz, the Ottomans were more tolerant than the Russians. But Georgia was always a problem – wanting to unify itself and demanding autonomy. But to keep Georgia from unifying and possibly achieving autonomy, Russia did what the Moguls and Ottomans did – they divided and conquered, but did so more artfully and deceitfully, even pitting Georgian provinces against each other, particularly
Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia. How does the saying go? “My friend is the enemy of my enemy.” So, Russia created distrust between regions within Georgia (sound familiar to our own country today?) where there had been few difficulties in the past.
To be fair, not unlike regions in our own country, Abkhazia has its own distinct identity and culture that is different from Georgia – for example, in our own country Texas is very different from the East Coast of the United States. And at one point in our history, Texas WAS ITS OWN REPUBLIC and asked to be a part of the United States to be protected from Mexico. But unlike regions in our own country, Abkhazia does have its own language. But Georgian was the primary language used in business and culture until Russia abolished it in the late 1800’s.
As I said before, Georgia declared independence in 1918, but that was short lived when the Soviet Union took it back. With seeds of distrust between the Abkhaz and Georgians already planted by the Russians, it got worse with the Soviets. Many Abkhaz felt their autonomy was repeatedly undermined under Soviet rule. And under Stalin (himself Georgian), Abkhazia’s status was downgraded and there was a policy of encouraging ethnic Georgian settlement into the region, (sound familiar – West Bank) which shifted the demographic balance and bred resentment among Abkhaz who felt they were becoming a minority in their own homeland.
And when the USSR collapsed in 1991 and Georgia became independent, all hell broke loose. Abkhaz leaders feared being absorbed into a more nationalist, centralized Georgian state and pushed for full independence instead. Georgia rejected this, viewing Abkhazia as an integral Georgian territory – this is similar to Serbia and Kosovo today. So in 1992 Georgian forces entered Abkhazia, sparking a brutal war. Abkhaz forces, with significant support from Russia eventually pushed Georgian troops out in 1993. The war involved ethnic cleansing on both sides — most severely against the ethnic Georgian population of Abkhazia, hundreds of thousands of whom were expelled or fled and have never been allowed to return.
In a not too dissimilar situation, is there some truth that some Ukrainians in eastern Ukraine would like independence – probably. But are they the majority and why do they even believe this? I am sure Russia would love to help those that believe that – and are actually “helping those” as we speak. But under what terms? Like our own country, there is so much propaganda out there.
Russia has steadily deepened its military and economic presence in Abkhazia, especially after the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, when Russia formally recognized Abkhazia’s independence (a move almost no one else followed). So at its core, the Abkhazia is a very layered problem. It is an ethnic/national dispute over self-determination, an unresolved war with displaced populations on both sides, and a geopolitical standoff where Russia’s backing of Abkhazia is keeping the situation unresolved.
It is a conflict with very deep historical roots with Georgians viewing it as a separatist movement backed by Russian interference, while Abkhaz views it as self-determination and fears of assimilation. As a result of my deep dive into this I would like to put another cautionary tale in front of you.
When I used AI to answer the question, “Why is there conflict between Abkhazia and Georgia?” it came back with what seemed like an intelligent and thoughtful response. If I had stopped there I would have left with the impression that Abkhazia needs to be independent. However, what AI did not explain was how the population of Abkhazia has been manipulated by the Russians over the past 150 years through various means including propaganda to believe that it is more different than the same as Georgia. So, what becomes truth? One day, AI could possibly be the source of all Truth. And now you also know why I find Russia so darn fascinating…
But I do want to end this on a positive note – Abkhazian food.
Abkhazian cooking shares a lot with Georgian cooking but has its own distinct character. It uses corn as a staple — abista (a thick cornmeal porridge, similar to Georgian gomi), replacing bread as the base of a meal.
Abkhaz cooking also uses lots of Walnut sauces — crushed walnuts mixed with garlic, herbs, and spices – as a sauce for meat, chicken, or vegetables. Like Georgia, Abkhaz food uses fresh salty cheeses similar to Georgian sulguni, often eaten with abista, the thick cornmeal porridge. And Abkhaz put Adjika — a fiery red paste made from hot peppers, garlic, herbs, and spices – as a condiment on almost everything. They usually skewer lamb, beef, and pork and cook over open flame. Fresh cilantro, dill, and basil feature heavily in recipes.
Abkhazia’s climate supports orchards, so fruit preserves and honey are common. Like a lot of Georgian food, the food tends to be simple, rustic, and built around fresh, local ingredients rather than elaborate technique with communal eating and hospitality playing a big part of the meal. This Georgian culture of communal eating with intense hospitality has a name – SUPRA. Hence the name of Jonathan’s restaurant in D.C. I like the saying the Georgians have for this. “The Guest Comes from the Gods.” So, treat them as if they have indeed come from the gods…
