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TRANSCRIPT
Tripe soup, known as patsa in Greek and iskembe in Turkish, is made of bovine bellies and legs, and is one of the best dishes for late-night hangovers.
But the dish has reignited a historical dispute between Greece and Turkiye, after a Greek restaurant owner tried to register the soup with the United Nations' cultural body, UNESCO.
Dimitris Tsarouhas says he's compiled extensive and detailed documentation for the registration.
“We submitted a massive and very detailed dossier, in collaboration with the Cultural Center of Thessaloniki, Islahane, and with the invaluable assistance of Lena Oflidi, the author who has written the only book about tripe soup, who has a huge historical archive, with the aim of safeguarding the know-how of tripe soup as Intangible Cultural Heritage and registering it in the National Inventory of Greece’s National Intangible Cultural Heritage. For the past two years with very many corrections requested by the Ministry of Culture, our goal has been to ultimately submit a file to UNESCO.”
Making the soup isn't easy, according to Greek chef Pantazis Koukoumvris.
“The know-how starts in the morning, with the preparation of the cauldron. We put in the bellies and legs to boil, so that we can later make the broth in the smaller pot, where we add bellies and legs again and let them boil. And we take the broth from here (points to cauldron) and pour it there (points to small pot) to intensify (the flavour).”
Mr Tsarouhas claims the history of Greek tripe soup can be traced back to the era of Homer, as the soup is mentioned in the epic The Odyssey.
But in the neighbouring country of Turkiye, his move has sparked outrage.
Ali Turkmen runs a restaurant specialising in the tripe soup.
"Just like with baklava and many other things, Greece want to claim it as their own. But it will probably be difficult for them to claim something unique to us, because it has been a staple in our culture for centuries. Tripe is something specific to Turks."
It's not the first time that the two countries have rivalled each other over the ownership of food.
The two countries also have disputes over Turkish and Greek coffee, which are brewed in the same way, and yoghurt.
While the two countries are both NATO allies, they also have long disputes over territories.
Mr Turkmen believes that tripe soup belongs to Turkiye — as does Murat Pajik, a tripe soup customer.
"They can try to do this (claim the soup as their own) but we definitely need to do something in return. We shouldn't allow it. I don't know exactly who is responsible, but measures need to be taken. Tripe soup is one of the dishes we should be promoting to the world."
