Abkhaz Churek

// Ingredients

• Cornmeal
• Water
• Salt

// Historical background

The traditional occupations of the Abkhaz are farming and livestock breeding, so the produce of the fields and dairy products have always held an important place at the table. Maize became the basis of everyday eating: its flour is used to cook mamaliga, which in daily use replaced bread.

Churek is baked from the same flour: unleavened flatbreads that are prepared simply and quickly. They are sweetened with honey, and this version makes the flatbread filling and expressive. Alongside churek, the home kitchen also has ahampal, a cornmeal bread that is boiled. Both dishes show how maize, once adopted, became a reliable mainstay of the family table.