MIR Corporation is thrilled to announce two unprecedented culinary tours to Russia and the Republic of Georgia. "A Chronicle of Russian Cuisine & Culture,” led by a passionate local foodie, allows guests to eat their way through Moscow and St. Petersburg, visiting definitive cultural sites and meeting famous chefs for hands-on cooking classes. “A Taste of Georgia: Wine, Cuisine & Culture” traverses a country of lush valleys and heart-stopping mountain vistas alongside an organic winemaker and a Georgian ethnologist. For more information on these culinary tours, call MIR Corp at call 800-424-7289.
“We believe these to be the first-ever culinary tours of Georgia and Russia offered by an American travel company,” said MIR Corporation founder Douglas Grimes. “Our clients will discover the history and living traditions of each country through interactions with chefs, winemakers, artisans and musicians.”
On the 10-day culinary tour of Russia, guests will discover that Russian cuisine goes far beyond borscht and blini as they explore enduring open-air markets and the new trend of czarist/nouvelle cuisine restaurants, retro-Soviet cafés and vodka bars of modern Russia. They’ll join famous chefs for hands-on cooking classes and dine in a smorgasbord of restaurants, family homes, and a country dacha, where home-cooked cuisine and traditional Russian culture come together.
“In Moscow you’ll attend a master cooking class at the Taste of Russia cooking school, where expert chef/instructors lead a hands-on lesson in purchasing and preparing classic Russian dishes,” said Grimes. “A private tour and tasting at the Cristall Vodka Museum and a visit to Perlov's Tea House to learn about the history of tea-drinking in Russia are also highlights of our time in Moscow.”
In St. Petersburg, travelers will meet a celebrity chef, take a class on traditional Russian cuisine, and indulge in Soviet nostalgia by exploring local vodka bars. Additionally, they’ll venture to an organic farm that supplies LavkaLavka, a modern whole-foods collective, with some of its products and enjoy a festive home-cooked dinner at a dacha.
The 14-day culinary tour of Georgia navigates a mountainous country peppered with cave monasteries dug out of the living rock. Georgia overflows with wine and abounds in hospitality. Guests will learn how artisans make qvevri, the huge earthenware vessels used in traditional Georgian wine-making; prepare a memorable meal with the chef at the organic Pheasant's Tears winery; sample natural wines made by monks according to traditional Georgian methods; and witness an electrifying polyphonic performance by dynamic Svaneti singers.
“Georgia is a wine lover’s paradise,” said Grimes. “You’ll sample wines from across the country and learn about the heritage Mtsvane grape and the rare amber-colored wines it produces.”
Guests will indulge in the full spectrum of Georgian cuisine, from the mouthwatering cheese-stuffed bread called katchapouri to the classic “Georgian Table” feast, and savor home-cooked meals sourced from local gardens, fields and rivers.
The August 1-10, 2014 “A Chronicle of Russian Cuisine & Culture” tour starts at $5,995 and the October 5-18, 2014 “A Taste of Georgia: Wine, Cuisine & Culture” tour starts at $5,495. To speak with a MIR Corporation travel specialist, call 800-424-7289.
About MIR Corporation:
MIR Corporation, whose name means "peace" and "world" in Russian, has specialized in Russia (and neighboring countries) since 1986. Offering scheduled and custom journeys to Russia, along the Trans-Siberian and across the Silk Route, MIR's Seattle-based experts design imaginative trips that take travelers far from the familiar, and work closely with local affiliates in Western Russia, Siberia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan to carry them out. MIR has twice been named one of National Geographic Adventure's "Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth," and is a preferred operator for museum, alumni and special interest organizations across the country.
Jeffrey Dale Starr is a vodka enthusiast, oil painter, and owner of mobile software company Purple Falcon.
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