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It’s said that a vessel of soup made of bovine bellies and legs tin cure ulcers, hangovers and an assortment of different ailments – if you’re courageous capable to try it.
And Dimitris Tsarouchas, the proprietor of a edifice successful the Greek metropolis of Thessaloniki that specializes successful “patsas” is striving to registry the soup with UNESCO arsenic a unique and traditional crockery of Greece that harks backmost to the clip of Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey.”
That has conjured up a caller quality with determination rival Turkey, which besides claims the soup arsenic its own. Greeks and Turks person been feuding implicit everything culinary from coffee, stuffed vine leaves and adjacent the celebrated baklava – the bequest of beingness under centuries of Ottoman rule. Now, the Turks are up successful arms that Greeks are taking sole recognition for a soup they telephone “iskembe,” which, according to them, has been a taste staple for centuries.
A woman prepares to devour traditional tripe soup known arsenic “patsas” successful Greek and “iskembe” successful Turkish, astatine Epirus edifice successful cardinal Athens, April 3, 2026. [Petros Giannakouris/AP]Tsarouchas told The Associated Press that he’s compiled a ample and elaborate record with the assistance of a section taste enactment and Lena Oflidis, the writer of the lone publication that chronicles the soup’s history, to incorporated the delicacy arsenic portion of Greece’s taste heritage.
Dozens of patrons amusement up astatine Tsarouchas’ edifice astatine each hours – peculiarly astatine the ace of dawn – to bask patsas arsenic galore accidental the soup eases the stomach aft a nighttime of dense drinking. It’s usually garnished with a sprinkle of seeds and a dash of blistery peppers.
A vessel of the soup is usually prepared to the customer’s liking, peculiarly however the bovine legs are chopped – either coarse oregon fine, which is the usual greeting preference.
“The bovine limb contains 33.4% pure, consumable collagen – that’s what helps greatly aft surgery connected the joints,” the 53-year-old restaurateur says, citing aesculapian experts. “But it besides cures ulcers and different stomach ailments caused by intoxicant consumption.”
Inside the restaurant’s kitchen, the soup’s mentation is astir ritualistic, arsenic cook Pantazis Koukoumvris works his weapon successful beforehand of boiling cauldrons where the legs and bellies stew successful their broth.
“This is where the creation begins from the morning,” Koukoumvris says, drafting from his 22-year acquisition of patsas-making.
“We spot the bellies and legs to boil, so that we tin marque the broth successful the smaller pot,” helium says, adding that the look was taken by the Byzantines from the past Greeks and passed connected to the Ottomans.
A antheral cooks traditional tripe soup, known arsenic “iskembe” successful Turkish and “patsas” successful Greek, successful a edifice successful Istanbul, Turkey, March 27, 2026. [Emrah Gurel/AP]Tsarouchas notes that the look for patsas is mentioned successful “The Odyssey,” specifically the feast that Odysseus’ wife Penelope prepared for suitors connected the time that her hubby came backmost from his decade-long journey.
Tsarouchas said that it refers to bovine bellies filled with suet – carnal abdominous used successful cooking – and blood.
“If this isn’t patsas, then what other could it be?” helium asks.
Although neighboring Turks are claiming the soup arsenic their ain invention, Tsarouchas isn’t worried. He says that they’re welcome to try if they tin enactment their wealth where their rima is.
“Nobody’s stopping them from trying,” helium says. “We judge that we person each the tools to unafraid and certify (patsas) arsenic such. We don’t person thing to disagreement with our neighbors – alternatively the taste unites us.”
Unity successful taste isn’t what Ali Turkmen has successful mind. The 59-year-old Turkish restauranteur says the crockery is historically and culturally specific to Turks, adjacent though the soup – conscionable similar successful Greece – is besides a late-night and go-to comfortableness nutrient aft a boozy night.
“Just similar with baklava and galore different things, they want to assertion it arsenic their own,” Turkmen said of the Greek bid for ownership of the soup. “But it will astir apt beryllium hard for them to assertion something unique to us. Because it’s been a staple successful our civilization for centuries. Tripe is something specific to Turks.”
A antheral cooks traditional tripe soup, known arsenic “iskembe” successful Turkish and “patsas” successful Greek, successful a edifice successful Istanbul, Turkey, March 27, 2026. [Emrah Gurel/AP]Ali Ohtamis is successful complaint of the room astatine Turkmen’s edifice Alem Iskembe, an constitution that specializes successful the soup successful Istanbul’s Kiziltoprak neighborhood.
Ohtamis starts boiling the cattle stomachs – oregon tripe – astatine 4 a.m. each time aft the innards are cleaned and washed. It cooks for 8 to 9 hours, helium said, aft which the nutrient is chopped to customers’ preference.
While some the Greek and Turkish soups are based connected a rich, garlicky broth, the Turkish iskembe uses lone tripe.
Turkish media person accused Greece of “appropriating” a crockery that is nationally celebrated. The Onedio quality portal reported that 17th-century traveler Evliya Celebi, successful his “Book of Travels,” described vendors selling tripe and trotters soup successful Istanbul, citing it arsenic grounds that the soup has a 400-year past successful Turkey.
Alem Iskembe lawsuit Murat Pajik says successful nary uncertain terms that Turkey shouldn’t let the Greek move.
“I don’t cognize precisely who is responsible, but measures request to beryllium taken. Tripe soup is 1 of the dishes we should beryllium promoting to the world,” Pajik said.
Engin Cakar said that the Greeks are warring successful vain to assertion ownership.
“I don’t think Greece is doing the close thing. This tripe crockery is from our grandfathers, our mothers,” helium said.
Over successful Greece, Christos Mousoulis sees it differently. A regular astatine Tsarouchas’ restaurant, helium says that patsas has been made successful the traditional way successful Greek homes for generations.
“I don’t uncertainty that the taste of patsas, either Greek oregon Turkish which I haven’t tried, whitethorn beryllium similar, but we grew up with Greek patsas,” helium says. [AP]
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