Alvakhazi

Alvakhazi is a Georgian sweet made by boiling down honey, letting it cool and then pulling it. It is described as a New Year sweet, and as the honey is pulled and folded again and again, its dark color gradually turns whitish.

Pulling honey until it turns white

In a method presented by Georgian agricultural media, the honey is brought to a boil several times, then stirred continuously in a cool place until it becomes too stiff to stir with a spoon. It is then taken out, and the stretching and folding are repeated until it turns white. In this example, it is then heated again, cooled and shaped into various forms. When pulled, it stretches thin, and as it is folded over and over, it takes on a whitish hue.

Another description explains that the boiled honey is cooled slightly, stirred with a wooden spoon and then pulled by hand. Even for the same sweet, the steps vary. In both of these methods, the honey itself is worked to produce the finished sweet.

A sweet for welcoming the New Year

In Georgia, there are accounts that link honey with the New Year table, and alvakhazi is also presented as a sweet of that season. Some sources describe a connection with gozinaki, which is made with honey and walnuts, but no basis has yet been confirmed for establishing as historical fact which of the two came first.

An ethnographic dictionary published by the National Library of Georgia includes an example from Kakheti in the east. In this method, what remains after the honey has been pressed out is washed, the resulting liquid is boiled down until thick, worked by hand for a long time, then cut, dried and eaten.

A regional source introducing the honey of Surebi in western Georgia lists alvakhazi as one of the uses of honey. In this region as well, it has been handed down as a sweet made by working honey and shaping it.

Glossary