![\"Patsas](\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/dims.apnews-320x200.jpg\")
\n <\/source><\/picture>\n
A man orders a traditional tripe soup known as \u201cpatsas\u201d in Greek and \u201ciskembe\u201d in Turkish, at Epirus restaurant in central Athens, April 3, 2026. [Petros Giannakouris\/AP Photo]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
It\u2019s said that a bowl of soup made of bovine bellies and legs can cure ulcers, hangovers and an assortment of other ailments \u2013 if you\u2019re courageous enough to try it.<\/p>\n
And Dimitris Tsarouchas, the owner of a restaurant in the Greek city of Thessaloniki that specializes in \u201cpatsas\u201d is striving to register the soup with UNESCO as a unique and traditional dish of Greece that harks back to the time of Homer\u2019s epic poem \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d<\/p>\n
That has conjured up a new dispute with regional rival Turkey, which also claims the soup as its own. Greeks and Turks have been feuding over everything culinary from coffee, stuffed vine leaves and even the famous baklava \u2013 the legacy of life under centuries of Ottoman rule. Now, the Turks are up in arms that Greeks are taking sole credit for a soup they call \u201ciskembe,\u201d which, according to them, has been a cultural staple for centuries.<\/p>\n Tsarouchas told The Associated Press that he\u2019s compiled a large and detailed file with the help of a local cultural organization and Lena Oflidis, the author of the only book that chronicles the soup\u2019s history, to incorporate the delicacy as part of Greece\u2019s cultural heritage.<\/p>\n Dozens of patrons show up at Tsarouchas\u2019 restaurant at all hours \u2013 particularly at the crack of dawn \u2013 to enjoy patsas as many say the soup eases the stomach after a night of heavy drinking. It\u2019s usually garnished with a sprinkle of seeds and a dash of hot peppers.<\/p>\n A bowl of the soup is usually prepared to the customer\u2019s liking, particularly how the bovine legs are chopped \u2013 either coarse or fine, which is the usual morning preference.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bovine leg contains 33.4% pure, consumable collagen \u2013 that\u2019s what helps greatly after surgery on the joints,\u201d the 53-year-old restaurateur says, citing medical experts. \u201cBut it also cures ulcers and other stomach ailments caused by alcohol consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside the restaurant\u2019s kitchen, the soup\u2019s preparation is almost ritualistic, as chef Pantazis Koukoumvris works his knife in front of boiling cauldrons where the legs and bellies stew in their broth.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is where the art begins from the morning,\u201d Koukoumvris says, drawing from his 22-year experience of patsas-making.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe place the bellies and legs to boil, so that we can make the broth in the smaller pot,\u201d he says, adding that the recipe was taken by the Byzantines from the ancient Greeks and passed on to the Ottomans.<\/p>\n Tsarouchas notes that the recipe for patsas is mentioned in \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d specifically the feast that Odysseus\u2019 wife Penelope prepared for suitors on the day that her husband came back from his decade-long journey.<\/p>\n Tsarouchas said that it refers to bovine bellies filled with suet \u2013 animal fat used in cooking \u2013 and blood.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this isn\u2019t patsas, then what else could it be?\u201d he asks.<\/p>\n Although neighboring Turks are claiming the soup as their own invention, Tsarouchas isn\u2019t worried. He says that they\u2019re welcome to try if they can put their money where their mouth is.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody\u2019s stopping them from trying,\u201d he says. \u201cWe believe that we have all the tools to secure and certify (patsas) as such. We don\u2019t have anything to divide with our neighbors \u2013 rather the taste unites us.\u201d<\/p>\n Unity in taste isn\u2019t what Ali Turkmen has in mind. The 59-year-old Turkish restauranteur says the dish is historically and culturally specific to Turks, even though the soup \u2013 just like in Greece \u2013 is also a late-night and go-to comfort food after a boozy night.<\/p>\n \u201cJust like with baklava and many other things, they want to claim it as their own,\u201d Turkmen said of the Greek bid for ownership of the soup. \u201cBut it will probably be difficult for them to claim something unique to us. Because it\u2019s been a staple in our culture for centuries. Tripe is something specific to Turks.\u201d<\/p>\n Ali Ohtamis is in charge of the kitchen at Turkmen\u2019s restaurant Alem Iskembe, an establishment that specializes in the soup in Istanbul\u2019s Kiziltoprak neighborhood.<\/p>\n Ohtamis starts boiling the cow stomachs \u2013 or tripe \u2013 at 4 a.m. every day after the innards are cleaned and washed. It cooks for eight to nine hours, he said, after which the meat is cut to customers\u2019 preference.\u00a0<\/p>\n While both the Greek and Turkish soups are based on a rich, garlicky broth, the Turkish iskembe uses only tripe.<\/p>\n Turkish media have accused Greece of \u201cappropriating\u201d a dish that is nationally celebrated. The Onedio news portal reported that 17th-century traveler Evliya Celebi, in his \u201cBook of Travels,\u201d described vendors selling tripe and trotters soup in Istanbul, citing it as evidence that the soup has a 400-year history in Turkey.<\/p>\n Alem Iskembe customer Murat Pajik says in no uncertain terms that Turkey shouldn\u2019t allow the Greek move.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t 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,\u201d Pajik said.<\/p>\n Engin Cakar said that the Greeks are fighting in vain to claim ownership.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Greece is doing the right thing. This tripe dish is from our grandfathers, our mothers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Over in Greece, Christos Mousoulis sees it differently. A regular at Tsarouchas\u2019 restaurant, he says that patsas has been made in the traditional way in Greek homes for generations.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t doubt that the taste of patsas, either Greek or Turkish which I haven\u2019t tried, may be similar, but we grew up with Greek patsas,\u201d he says. [AP]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"patsas-or-iskembe-tripe-stirs-cross-aegean-passions0\"](\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26096357143415.jpg?1776256757649\")
![\"patsas-or-iskembe-tripe-stirs-cross-aegean-passions2\"](\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26096586188431.jpg?1776256843282\")
![\"patsas-or-iskembe-tripe-stirs-cross-aegean-passions4\"](\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26096586148861.jpg?1776256874056\")