Mikuganoff

Mikuganoff, also known as the "1st Ordinance Menu", or "Little Samistopol", was a legendary school meal of the 1980s and 1990s in Salikhia, plagued by hard times of need. Summing up, the menu consisted mainly of "Datakhi" (thick strips of dough made only of flour and water, similar to Etrurian Tagliatelle) accompanied by canned Beef Stroganoff and peach Kompot for dessert — drink was not usually included in the menu, until 1987, when a glass of Tonic Water was ordered to be included.

Children playing with an old fashioned Soravian soda machine

The "Ordinance" factor was that before consuming the menu at 11:00AM, pupils were required to raise the national flag, listen to the anthem and perform the corresponding "Prayer to the Republic", an event which usually took no more than 5 minutes, and which sought to instil in the children a love for their colours, with a subsequent reward, food, at a time when eating one's fill was considered an unattainable luxury, and that would probably be many children's only meal all day.

Processed meat factory for Stroganoff, 1986.

The legend surrounding this menu, the first of the so-called "of Ordinance", indicates that President Miku Datunashvili visited his childhood school in 1985 to say a few words to the new pupils and take part in the celebrations for the first classday — while all this was going on, with a few minutes in between, four children fainted, which made Datunashvili aware of the poor nutritional situation of the schoolchildren. He decided to seek the advice of nutritionists and community cooks to develop a menu that could be cheap, easy to prepare, and easy to distribute. The result was the first version of the Mikuganoff (named in his honor), which was made compulsory for all schools in the country, giving children a one-hour break between 11:00 and 12:00 to eat and socialise. All menu items were preserved in cans or bottles, which made them non-perishable and easy to store, allowing for massive weekend supplies to every school in the country.

Kakhaka used to serve tonic water

The 1st was replaced by other "Ordinance Menus" in the mid-1990s, although the Mikuganoff has managed to win the hearts of pupils, and prevail despite the changing generations, and is even today the first choice for lunch — over time, the stroganoff went from canned to authentic, but the essence of the menu remains almost the "same".

Modern Stroganoff, served with mushrooms

Contrasting with this last idea, many alumni indicate that current Mikuganoff should no longer be considered as such, since the humble origins of its ingredients have been lost, replaced by more elaborate preparations — for example, the current portion usually includes mushrooms, also nuts and raisins as a small snack, and even the process of making Datakhi has changed to that of a traditional egg pasta.