{"id":8673,"date":"2026-10-27T13:27:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T04:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8673"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:52:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:52:02","slug":"alvakhazi","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/alvakhazi\/","title":{"rendered":"Alvakhazi"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"An
An example of honey. Photo: Scott Bauer, USDA ARS \/ Source<\/a> \/ Public domain<\/a>. Image used as distributed by the source; no changes to the content after retrieval.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pulling honey until it turns white<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A sweet for welcoming the New Year<\/h2>\n

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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

\"An
An example of gozinaki, walnuts set in honey. A different sweet from alvakhazi. Photo: Georgia About \/ GeorgianRecipes.net \/ GeorgianRecipes.net<\/a> \/ Source<\/a> \/ CC BY 3.0<\/a>. Image used as distributed by the source; no changes to the content after retrieval.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"An
An example of harvesting honey from a comb in India. This is not a photo of the sweet being made in Georgia. Photo: Vraj Acharya \/ Source<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Image used as distributed by the source; no changes to the content after retrieval.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Gozinaki<\/strong>: A Georgian sweet made by combining honey with walnuts or other nuts and letting it set.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Honey is boiled down, cooled and then pulled. Alvakhazi is a honey sweet spoken of as a Georgian New Year confection. As it is pulled and folded again and again, the dark mass of honey gradually turns into a whitish dough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7929,"menu_order":444,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Alvakhazi","subtitle":"Pulling Honey Until It Turns White","topics":"Pulling boiled-down honey until it turns white \/ Handwork that repeats heating and cooling \/ A sweet spoken of at the Georgian New Year","country":"Georgia","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["honey"],"texture":[],"occasion":[],"method":["cooked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[159],"class_list":["post-8673","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"auto","sweetlore_related_articles":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t