GEORGIAN LOBIANI BAKED IN TONE
We recently returned to our bakery, Trepezi, in our neighborhood in Tbilisi to see how our baker, Zaur Skhirtladze, makes Lobiani (boiled bean bread).
Lobiani is enjoyed all year round and especially eaten on the Georgian holiday of Barbaroba, or St. Barbara’s Day (December 17).
The main ingredient of Lobiani is boiled kidney beans.
Zaur told us that after boiling, the beans are mashed and mixed with butter, salt and pepper.
The dough used to wrap the bean filling is the same as the dough used to make Shotis Puri (traditional Georgian bread).
Each Lobiani begins as a flattened piece of dough, which is kneaded by hand.
The bean filling is spooned onto the dough and spread evenly.
The dough is then wrapped around the bean filling.
The sides are pinched together.
Each Lobiani is stretched onto a special linen covered pad (called Lapati in Georgian) and gently flattened.
The Lapati is used to place the dough inside a deep circular oven called a tone.
The Lapati has a thumb hole that is used by the baker when he places the dough in the tone and presses it firmly against the inner wall.
As the Lobiani bakes it turns a golden brown and is ready to be removed in 7-8 minutes.
The baker uses two specialized tools to remove the baked Lobiani. One is called Kavi and is used to stab the Lobiani and the other is called Safkheki and is used to dislodge the Lobiani from the wall of the tone.
The freshly baked Lobiani are brushed with butter or oil for a beautiful glazed effect.
In a future post we will show how Lobiani can be made at home (step-by-step process).
We would like to thank Zaur Skhirtladze and the Trepezi bakery for showing us how real Georgian Lobiani is made.
More information about traditional Georgian bread making can be found here.
CLICK on the logo to visit GEORGIA ABOUT on Facebook and see photos and news about Georgia. Click LIKE on the page and become a friend of GEORGIA.
Comments
3 Responses to “GEORGIAN LOBIANI BAKED IN TONE”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying...[…] GEORGIAN LOBIANI BAKED IN TONE […]
[…] them smaller. Click here for step by step photographic instructions for shaping the dough and here for an alternate way of shaping them and pictures of a traditional oven in a real Georgian […]
[…] ayran and Natakhtari lemonade to go with your bread.Unfortunately, they bake my favourite pie, lobiani – vegan pastry with spicy beans, mostly during one of Orthodox church’s lent seasons. […]