Greece Seeks UNESCO Status for a Traditional Turkish Soup
🍲 INTANGIBLE HERITAGE ⚔️ GASTRO-DIPLOMACY
Greece Seeks UNESCO Status for a Traditional Turkish Soup
📅 February 23, 2026 📍 Greece · Turkey · UNESCO
Greece has officially applied to UNESCO to recognize a tripe soup deeply rooted in Ottoman and Turkish culinary traditions, known in Turkey as işkembe çorbası.
🇬🇷 patsas in Greece In Greece, the dish is called patsas and is considered a staple of late-night street food. The Greek authorities have prepared a dossier, submitted it to the Ministry of Culture, and plan to forward it to UNESCO as an element of intangible cultural heritage.
⚡ symbolic rivalry reignited The move has reignited a long-standing “gastrodiplomatic” rivalry between the two countries. Many dishes in the Aegean region are prepared similarly, reflecting centuries of shared history during the Ottoman era. These disputes are usually symbolic, highlighting cultural pride rather than culinary differences.
📜 historical roots
Historical sources attest to the dish’s long history: 17th-century traveler Evliya Çelebi, in his Book of Travels, described vendors selling tripe and feet soup in Istanbul.
🌍 parallel culinary debates: Similar culinary debates occur worldwide — for example, the long-running discussion between Germany and Turkey over döner kebab, concerning its name, preparation, and cultural ownership.
🍵 soup names & heritage
- 🇹🇷 işkembe çorbası – Turkish tradition, tripe soup, mentioned by Evliya Çelebi (17th c.)
- 🇬🇷 patsas – Greek street food, late‑night staple, now proposed for UNESCO
- 🇩🇪🇹🇷 döner kebab – long‑running cultural ownership discussion
Greece has officially applied to UNESCO to recognize a tripe soup deeply rooted in Ottoman and Turkish culinary traditions, known in Turkey as işkembe çorbası. In Greece, the dish is called patsas and is considered a staple of late-night street food. The dossier has been submitted to the Ministry of Culture and will be forwarded to UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.
✅ full article · all fragments preserved · no abbreviations #UNESCO #Iskembe #Patsas #GastroDiplomacy
