Mtsvadi - real Georgian shashlik
6 servings
60 minutes
Mtsvadi is not just skewers but a symbol of Georgian hospitality and traditions. This dish is cooked over an open fire using fruitwood, giving the meat a special aroma. Historically, it was prepared by shepherds who grilled fresh meat pieces over coals without marinade, relying only on salt and natural heat. Today, mtsvadi consists of juicy pieces of beef or pork infused with onions and spices, slowly roasting over gray coals. The result is tender meat with a crispy crust and rich flavor that shines especially bright when paired with herbs, red onions, and pomegranate seeds. Mtsvadi is the perfect dish for friendly gatherings where each skewer carries the warmth of the fire and the aroma of Georgia's mountain slopes.
1
Clean the meat (beef - thick edge or rump, pork - back part of the ham) from membranes and tendons, and cut into pieces of 4–5 cm.
- Meat: 2 kg
2
Chop the onion coarsely, place it in a bowl, and mash it with your hands.
- Onion: 800 g
3
Add meat, spices.
- Meat: 2 kg
- Salt: 30 g
- Paprika: 20 g
- Ground chili pepper: 20 g
4
Pour oil over the shashlik and mix.
- Vegetable oil: 150 ml
5
Cover with film or a lid and place in the refrigerator for at least overnight (about 8 hours) or for a day. During this time, it is advisable to take it out and stir it several times.
6
After choosing the location and setting up the grill, you should first let the coals burn. The best fuel is wood from fruit trees, and using grapevines would be ideal. Let them burn until they reach the desired state for shashlik—called gray coals—which will take about 30 minutes. This time is enough to skewer the shashlik.
7
Carefully shake off all pieces of onion from the meat — otherwise it will burn and turn into unsightly scorch marks. Skewer the meat so that you start and end with non-standard small pieces, placing larger and more even ones in the middle. It's better to place the skewers with meat not on a flat tray but on the edges of a bowl so they are exposed to air instead of swimming in their own juice. This way, the crust will hold better over the fire. After assembling the skewer, tightly compress the meat from all sides with your hand so that the pieces are more uniform.
8
At that time, break the burned logs into small pieces with a poker and evenly distribute them on the bottom of the grill to the width that the skewers will occupy. Prepare a bottle of water or wine in advance, making several holes in the cap to extinguish the flames.
9
Skewers should be placed on the grill just after the open flame has gone out. The coals will be very hot, and at high heat, the meat will sear immediately, keeping all the juices inside.
10
After a minute, turn the skewers to the other side. The meat will grill for 10-15 minutes; during this time, you should rotate the skewers about every 2 minutes and occasionally swap their positions for even cooking. Also, douse the flames by spraying water from a bottle.
11
The readiness of the shashlik is visible to the eye, but for reliability, you can make a cut with a sharp knife in the meat and check if it is cooked.
12
3 minutes before readiness, you can brush the meat with vegetable oil and sprinkle it again with ground hot pepper.
- Vegetable oil: 150 ml
- Ground chili pepper: 20 g
13
Serve the shashlik with red onion (which can be marinated for 10 minutes in wine vinegar), herbs, and pomegranate seeds.
- Onion: 800 g
- Pomegranate seeds: to taste
- Green: to taste