Anthony Tries Hangover Soup | Full Episode | S07 E02 | Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

[Music] speee [Music] to [Music] Georgia I took a walk to this beautiful world felt the Cool Rain on My [Applause] Shoulder found something good in this beautiful world I felt the rain get controller [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Georgia is probably a place you don't know much about few Americans I suspect could place it on a map it's small compared to the superpowers around it but vital its significance far exceeding its relative size for nearly 70 years it was a Soviet Republic and since Independence in 1991 Georgia has been on a wild and often deeply troubled ride as it struggles to attain and maintain democracy there has been a civil war Regional strife and numerous provocations and invasions by Russia geopolitically it's located in a hotspot a strategic Crossroad surrounded by Russia turkey Armenia oil producing azaran and just a short distance away Syria and Iran I wanted very much to see Georgia but in November of 2015 I was having a very tough time getting there the hard realities of a television production schedule required me to be in georg's shiny new version of Vegas on the sea Batumi but here I was stuck into [Music] stumble hurricane-like weather conditions grounded my flight on the other side of the sea it's an unforgiving Medium television and a first principle is that one minute you're on top of the world next minute replaced by a younger prettier face somebody hungrier with fire in their [Music] belly B life from Batumi I knew just such a person someone who'd been hungering for my job for ages Peter Piper p p of pickle peppers I'm talking about Samir of course only a short flight away in Moscow and ready at the drop of a hat to jump on a plane and be my eyes and ears and Batumi I may have misrepresented things a little bit I may have promised him a recurring role in the show but I needed somebody on the ground and I needed him quickly this is CNN [Music] when the producers of the American television program Parts Unknown telephone M and explained that I wouldn't have to pay for anything I took from the mini bar I was confident this was the break I was waiting for maybe this was the Glorious future for me in cable news you go a little bit to your right here right a little more but just when my plan for becoming next Wolf Blitzer are about to come true Tony arrives smashing my hopes on the reef of Television Broken Dreams please feel at home you know it's like it's Georgy now it could be another state right well how did you get here what via what route luckily there is a direct flight twice a week though from Moscow to Batumi 2 and a half hours that's all yeah just all right what are we drinking zir this is the important question do you feel like you're ready for some tropical F I have Sur prise of chaa it's like moonshine okay I'll have I'll try that cuz apparently I'm going to be apparently I'm going to be drinking a lot of it while I'm in Georgia this is I understand a it's parts of local hospitality and but it it's over 40° like alcohol proof welcome to Georgia hope it'll be an interesting trip for you lot of things to learn if we were to go to a casino tonight for instance what do you think what is your game of choice poker yes maybe or roule yeah black maybe roulette that's that's quick B James Bond played bakar not that good at that but let's see what they have not much going on in Batumi off season as it turns out the casinos are still going for the benefit mostly of Turkish dudes hopping across the border from their country where such vices are frowned upon 17 19 14 brutal tough day at the [Music] office is that great philosopher Wesley Snipes what he said always been on black going all in from here okay come on back come on back yes it's a good start Sony Let It Ride ah run Rabbit Run [Laughter] ouch [ __ ] should be some night life I mean the losers deserve some relief right yeah nothing like a loser at a nightclub and I am an eight loser so let's go let's go yeah unsurprisingly zamir and I suck at gambling with a force equivalent to a thousand suns I should have just pulled my pants down and handed over my money the second we walked in the door but actually that came [Music] later I'm mesmerized by this bow of electronic snakes they changing colors either that or I have a brain hemorrhage no changing colors everything's fine Arena rocky rocky rocky two [Music] Rocky maybe it's time to think of a New Year resolutions once we have inspiring moment Tony this is an interesting moment of my life I'm trying to get something going on and knowing your creativity New Opportunities and [Music] this but are you welcome in Turkey yeah [Music] my my [Music] [Music] Batumi in daytime is a strange looking place not exactly forlorn offseason just odd a mix of what are obviously Big Dreams and current realities what is going on here they're building everywhere commercial and residential properties rising up out of the ground every few yards it goes on and on I meet up with zabir at sandari one of the city's older more traditional joints Tony how you feeling uh like something crawled inside my head defecated and then died listen I think we're getting old getting though you're looking very spelt I have to say I'm I'm impressed I it was be kidding me H you look good up on that bowl well listen if we are on The Blacklist again I think that's the end of my career but you know it was a brief but magnificent pole dancing career I can tell you you went out in a flame of Glory I wasn't prepared that there so Puritan kind of you know country and people are kind of you know I thought they had some sense of humor but hair of the dock yeah yeah well so we're eating what what's as traditionally you know Georgia is is a man's world I mean Men drink eat party and the women normally do know how to make people healthy and Alive next morning after heavy drinking so hash it's kind of broth and it's made of beef bones and joints so the whole idea is just suck out whatever alcohol Still Remains so it's a hangover soup it's hangover soup okay oh yeah there's rpe in there yeah lots of joints I don't know this is not the first thing I think of for a hangover actually oh really maybe this will help goes well with garlic do you try garlic yeah I just dumped a whole bunch of garlic in there you think it's marketable in the states as a real hangover dish I think they should be a lot of [Music] clientele no no not really the Hashi is not really working for me but I absolutely love the chasa Shuli a stew of slow cooked ve with onion and tomato heavily seasoned with coriander fennel garlic and chilies spicy I mean it's really like got some good zing in there yeah feeling better I am good so uh has the club called offering you a job not yet I think it's very tough competition on the front to Georgia sella it's local toast as grateful as I I am for him stepping in in my time of need it's time for zamir to head back off to Moscow I ain't no fool the man clearly wants my [Music] job toi in the eastern part of the country is Georgia's capital city and it's very different in every respect from batum's offseason amusement park Vibe it's an old city founded in the fifth century but also a very new city 1.2 million people building their own world freshly emerg from some very very dark times it's a pretty incredible story Strong Rock Solid Orthodox Christian tradition a whole hell of a lot of years under the Soviet boot years of totally Wild West gangsterism endemic corruption now it's a very different story toi is changing fast so I don't know what it says about a place that since I've arrived in this country I've been in literally a constant state of I'm either drinking or hung over yeah yeah or both yeah yeah is that normal that's normal yeah especially for visitors they're friendly here but but it's it's a friendly kidnapping you know well I actually I i' i' I've read accounts of people who actually were kidnapped in this country who yeah it happened once with a un monitors they it disappeared they came back like 10 lbs heavier and hung over found them they found them in a cabin up in the mountains partying they they bumped into a wedding party and we're there for 2 days so how long have you lived here uh about 12 years 12 13 years so you've been hung on over for 12 years yeah yeah pretty much Paul rimple is an American Born journalist and he's seen it all he takes me to to's Old City to eat at the gabriza cafe when you first arrived who was who was running things back then Edward Chad ah those so the bad old days yes it's a real mixed Legacy because the nation was still functioning as a an outlaw ex Soviet you know nation and then saki just kind of emerged and the rose Revolution happen and you know everything changed the country has run through a number of heads of state since the end of Soviet rule first was former Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Soviet Union Edward chevard ndzi who was ousted in 2003 but to get a handle on Georgia today you must understand the importance of one man Mikel sakes after Chev na he was elected president in 2004 and began to change everything Misha as everybody knew him transformed the country and by making friends in the West in Europe and the US he gained a lot of attention both good and bad in 2013 though he was ousted by the Georgia dream party who are still in power today most Americans watching this show will have a hard time even locating Georgia on a map yeah what what do you think people need to know about this country two things in Georgia that are Untouchable the church don't mess with the church and don't mess with Georgian food don't mess with Georgian food yeah don't mess with the church okay I get it mhm but to the food why because um it's tradition you don't mess with tradition I'm quickly finding that the cuisine here is really good really complex with sweet sour notes that are reminiscent of I don't know I just know it feels hauntingly familiar yet utterly new and delicious salad with orange almonds and honey grilled lamb ribs with pomegranate sauce slices of fried eggplant wrapped around a walnut filling and shik maruli chicken slow baked in an oven and then simmered in garlic and milk that's good and George's will tell you there's there's no alcoholics in Georgia no alcoholics right do you believe that absolutely not how do I get out of drinking how do I avoid chugging uh J say you have a heart condition a heart condition yeah nothing short of that will help no [Music] there it is perched on a Hilltop overlooking the capital like the lair of Ern Stavro blofeld the bond arch villain helipad check private Zoo check a big shimmering glass box owned by Georgia's richest man Bina ivanishvili known variously as the good oligarch and as the mysterious guiding hand behind well everything seldom seen in public ivanishvili after making billions in Russia went into politics in his home plan creating the Georgia dream party and ultimately becoming prime minister in 2012 not everybody is on board [Music] however known as The Angry Bird Tamara Shish V and her pro-western decidedly anti-russian defend Liberty Coalition are in vocal opposition recently A Move by the ruling party to sign a deal with Russia's gas prom for all Georgia's oil needs has caused [Applause] dissension we meet at Sophia melnikova a much loved be Ro for the most loved perhaps most iconic Georgian dish King Ki I understand that that Georgia is not the bissi but it looking around bissi compared to 2008 life looks good there's money in the streets shiny new cars no well the thing is that yes things have changed uh after the collapse of the Soviet Union Georgia was the country that suffered the most among the former Soviet republics economically I mean economy totally collapsed corruption like became like just a normal way of living truly a pretty miraculous transformation unlike yeah well any place it happened because like people wanted it I mean and there was there was this demand that's why Revolution took place oh man look at that wow that looks Sensational yeah big fat juicy soup dumplings filled with spicy cumin jacked minced beef and hot Rich potentially scalding broth you you have never tried that I have never no I'm new to this country H according to Traditions you're eating it with with with fingers I mean that's that's the whole thing so wow these are terrific I mean this is not something very sophisticated to eat be this is a very religious country people identify themselves closely with Christianity family based exactly and there seems to be a point Beyond which the population will not go and to come around to comrad Putin um he seems to understand this very very well the way Putin operates is that like first Putin emanates strengths I mean he's a bad guy I mean there is a consensus like 80% of Georgians like believe that Georg Putin is a very bad guy and Russia is a threat on The Winning Side yeah exactly so he's a winner so they don't judge winners and they say okay we're bad but West is worse are they wrong of course they are wrong wherever you find a traditional religious conservative Society you find a counterveiling force Georgians as a rule are passionate about tradition about the way things are supposed to be done [Music] anybody oh anybody but that doesn't mean there aren't Rebels here people pushing hard against the status quo daring creative Souls like Chef tuna gach chilazi at culinarium she's taking to extremes the notion that Georgian food is in fact a fusion of all the past influences of the the many forces who've made their way and forced their way through the tiny country she's focused on the Next Generation something that was said to me early on what I need to know about Georgians don't speak badly of uh religion and don't mess with the food for me without Innovation tradition will die because we can't we can't eat the same dishes what we used to eat in the beginning of the century because then the people did go for the hunt for two weeks and now we're sitting front of computer and we can't take so much fat it needs some lighter version of it and I'm trying to modernize Georgian cookings I think you hungry so now we have to cook this is the Queen's soup with the caramelized onions and then the swanu salt really good it's really good hangover oh good that's good because I have a hangover eat some more soups I like this all day and then we're going to drink chaa and you don't going to have a hand col at all so on my way to a new in this is Georgia you know you you have hangover clearing yourself every day and then next day you still have a hang over and then you carrying oh my God I mean I'm an Amer I think we have to do one shot it's going to help you and it's going to help me why not and some wild trout tartar that's delicious so when you first started departing from the classics what was the reaction from people what do you think it was big like um controversial even my grandmother she's like when I make try this new things why why you have to do this and this is the very popular dish chakapuli and then from La of chakapuli I'm trying to make people eat muscles because the muscle is not very popular beautiful muscles too yeah we have very good muscles so we need now one more shot so are there some Georgian dishes that should never change I always feeling very strongly to preserving original dishes it's good to have this original version but I'm giving the other option to something new in my vision it's always to have a choice look it's a beautiful city it's the countryside is fantastic the people are nice and the food is really extraordinary really really really something special it is it is the drinking however is a problem drinking girl Cheers Cheers [Music] toi is one thing an increasingly modern city smart cafes boutique hotels shops galleries the inevitable SPO of hipsters but outside the city it's not so different than it always was agrarian traditional things done the way they've always been done the way it's believed they should be done until you reach the Bizarro World along the border only 90 km Northwest from talisi in villages like this one caletti where tiny Georgia's predicament comes clearly and brutally into [Music] Focus over there the Russian controled Breakaway region formerly Georgian of South otia the Russians took it in a 5-day war in 2008 it's Russia now this side of the wire is at this precise moment anyway Georgia but who knows the Border has been known to inch forward unpredictably often in the dead of night to the point that families have gone to sleep in Georgia and woken to find themselves living in Russia swallowed up overnight before 2008 caletti was home to more than 60 families today just nine families are left hanging on so that cow is INS sou set here both of them there was a story actually on that an old lady basically W up and her cow appeared to be on the other side of the fence because they did it during the night right and so she would walk up every morning and would milk her through the fence to get her milk can't be that bad yeah journalist and fixer dimma bit suan covered the war here seven years ago and continues to report from the region so like that house they had The Misfortune to go to sleep in Georgia and wake up in Russia exactly but look at this you see that this is where the Russians sit and that is the base probably communication base so they're probably now watching us and the sign says attention stateboard so that's something that appeared recently thoughtfully in [Laughter] English the main problem to me is that we're like couple of kilometers away from the highway moving this border and blocking this highway would stop all the activity in the country basically so right now the the Caspian oil and gas go through Georgia and that's the only Roots right except Russia I mean bypassing Russia there's an implied threat you know that's you're saying if I can do this I can certainly go all the way right out of the highway at which point basically there's a pipeline just here on this is really a hand around your throat absolutely every day that's why every 50 m or even meter which may be not that important for the whole country like short-term economic point of view it doesn't matter right but in terms of political threat every meter is another step towards a catastrophe we're here for a Supra at the home of vangi and magala kokashvili a Supra is like a feast super traditional a pig is dispatched and broken into constituent Parts the neighbors pitch in helping to make three different varieties of a traditional cheese filled bread known as kiuri variously stuffed here with potato beet leaves and stewed cabbage and there's one thing that we always do in Georgia we eat fresh herbs always and this is homemade wine there is I I gather a very formal structure to these toast for the first few toast at least sevenish I would say well you sort of lose the plot after seven no no seven is not a lot here's how a typical Supra works it's more more formal than it looks custom must be observed certain rituals performed proceedings are led by the tomata or Toast Master often the head of the house the big cheese the dude but always the guy with the best rhetorical skills and the guy best able to stay sober while all around him are well not because there's a lot of drinking in a Supra it's required in this case our hosts have called upon eigor their next door neighor after each toast your glass of wine or Chacha God forbid must and I mean must be drained completely and refilled to the rim you're toasting some pretty heartfelt serious [ __ ] here so hang in there and show some respect well up in which is tough because the drink receptacles can grow larger as the toasts progress to like this horn for instance which is used because you can't even if you wanted to put it down anything less than empty cuz it'll like pour all over the table so drink up then there's a mug and so [Music] on for to Georgia then it's time for the food roast stuffed Goose wow look at that and shashlick grilled kebabs of pork with a sour plum sauce there's also corma a slow cooked stew of the pig's heart and liver with onions bay leaves and parsley good [Music] [Music] bread if if we have a choice we prefer West to Russia because the future our children is much better there but they're still herei and we're not afraid they're here but we sleep peacefully without without fear and he says if they come we'll be here we'll meet them here it's been six year we couldn't go to the to the gra [Music] [Music] speech [Music] working on it I'll get there I'll get [Music] there the wine region of Georgia is called kti a beautiful area east of talisi made up of Foothills and valleys below the Caucasus Mountain mountains in the hilltop Village of signagi there's a well-known restaurant called pheasants tears the chef is a local guy Gia roash who works with whats from the area nothing too fancy but always Soulful and delicious and always served with local wines I like to show off my country you know I I want to sometimes scream look this is my country come and visit and maybe it's part of my culture part of my person Personality yeah we are just proud of our country now you should know this about me and the people I work with we don't like working with officials we avoid tourist boards official advisers government employees we certainly don't hang out with Ministers of the countries we're shooting in who always always have an agenda and always want to skew our perspective on our subject but KY borish is an exception she is the Deputy minister of economy a remarkable woman more remarkable for the fact that she's a unique holdover from the previous administration she goes on and on never stopping in her efforts to convince the world that Georgia Georgia is the place to be and if you spend any time with this ferociously smart woman and her friend Gallery owner tamuna gabarit you will understand and forgive us all all of us on the crew for becoming completely begil I like the food already love the food okay good food you like I hope wine you like and then if you like skiing then that's the place and you have to dance also georgean dancers really I'm a really really appalling no no no you will do that you know you will do now I'm fright two three glasses of chaa and you're ready to dance enough chaa anything is possible I'm going to toast take this uh breath uh let's toast for the I'm spontaneously thinking right now to achieve our goals and dreams to dreams the ladies convinced us to make the 90-minute drive to this Village and this restaurant and well I'm I'm quite happy they did by the time I've had some more of that delicious and lethal Chacha and many glasses of delicious Georgian wine after boiled beets in a wild plum sauce and freshly foraged mushrooms with chili pepper and mint and taragon baby lamb stewed in its own fat with cumin then cooked together with wild rice Biryani style and delicious delicious tonis Puri red straight out of the outdoor Tandoor like Clay Oven after all all this I am convinced I am co-opted I am recruited count me as a useful idiot a winning agent of the Georgian Ministry of Tourism for I may as well be but um I have to underline also that Georgian people are very optimistic uh very cheerful uh they always see you know future in a very uh and that drives the you know drives them optimism not a lot of it in this world right now mhm I visit a lot of countries people are unusually helpful and friendly here um how should I put this people are really goodlooking I mean look at it is a it's a sort of thing you notice do you know how you look like no the director American oh David Lynch really he has better hair I'm so happy that he says that he likes Georgia really I why would I not yeah you're becoming a Georgian be careful we are all humans and we all love each other so we can sit around the table and we can just love each other and especially with the help of wine we can love more you know Georgians also like to drink for peace because peace was so important in our lives so I think we need to change freedom to Freedom so T now it's your turn to say the toast to this extraordinary place that has managed Against All Odds to endure all these years against so many powerful forces to to magnificent women thank [Music] you in this Ney neighborhood just up the hill from downtown to B is where yorgi gavani is hosting a dinner the food's being prepared by Maro gualazzi the chef of the city's beloved black lion brri and it is going to be epic how do you find this this one is really good not too salty for you we love salted cheese so the wife okay it's great for your hangover they say that about a lot of things here I noticed a variety of Georgian appetizers served pre- dinner kind of like MZ spinach with walnuts and wild Capers pickled carrots cheese curred with roasted hazelnuts and mint roasted eggplant seasoned with coriander this thing this thing is amazing carop stewed chicken cooked slow with Aika chili sauce onions and the oft used Georgian spices merry gold Flower Powder and blue fenugreek a lot of what we've been talking about since we got here is Will Georgia continue to look West or will it as the Russians would prefer look to the east it's not like like last 200 years or something is throughout the existence of Georgia even though we were surrounded and we had like our immediate neighbors were Turkish Persian Arab or whoever else or Russian okay the so the bias has always been towards with Europe rather than with the east we believe that we were part of that that culture however distant we might have actually been by Regional standards people don't lower their voices here when they give their opinion more or less okay it it is as we never did honestly speaking I think we've done better than me many of the Soviet republics so what will it be like in 10 years I mean are you optimistic absolutely I'm always optimistic optimistic mildly optimistic optimistic not so I would say if Georgia is still independent I'm very optimistic right oh and the next one is abely and the next one is supposed to be for the children right come on or the life or life yeah to dreamers dreamers [Music] polyphonic songs are pure Georgia eerily reminiscent though of mariachi music they're about pre-christian things things that have always been here since the beginning like wind and forests and Forest spirits and lost love [Music] hauntingly beautiful and otherworldly kind of like Georgia [Music] glor because God [Music]