A Homeric hangover 'cure' - Greek claim over ancient bovine belly broth stirs feud with rival Turks

Patsa is a Greek soup made from bovine bellies and legs, believed by many to ease stomach ulcers, hangovers, and other ailments. Dimitris Tsarouhas, a Thessaloniki restaurant owner specializing in patsa, is working to register the dish with UNESCO as a unique traditional food linked to Homer’s Odyssey. Turkey also claims the soup, calling it iskembe, and disputes Greek sole credit. Greeks and Turks have long competed over culinary heritage tied to Ottoman-era history. Tsarouhas has compiled documentation with local cultural help and a historian who chronicles the soup’s background. Patrons come early for the broth, often garnished with seeds and hot peppers, and prepared with leg chopping to customer preference.

"Many hardy souls in Greece believe a bowl of soup made of bovine bellies and legs can rid you of stomach ulcers, hangovers and various other ailments - if you're brave enough to try it. And Dimitris Tsarouhas, the owner of a restaurant in the Greek city of Thessaloniki that specializes in "patsa" is striving to register the soup with UNESCO as a unique and traditional dish of Greece that harks back to the time of Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey.""

"That has prompted a new dispute with age-old rival Turkey, which also claims the soup as its own. Greeks and Turks have been feuding over everything culinary from coffee, stuffed grape leaves and even the famous baklava - 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 "iskembe," which according to them has been a cultural staple for centuries."

"Tsarouhas told The Associated Press that he's 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's history, in a bid to incorporate the delicacy as part of Greece's cultural heritage. A broth coveted by Penelope's suitors Dozens of patrons show up at Tsarouhas' restaurant at all hours - particularly at the crack of dawn - to enjoy patsa as many say the soup eases the stomach after a night of heavy drinking."

"It's usually garnished with a sprinkle of seeds and a dash of hot peppers. A bowl of the soup is usually prepared to the customer's liking, particularly how the bovine legs are chopped - either coarse or fine, which is the usual morning preference. "The bovine leg contains 33.4% pure, consumable collagen - that's what helps greatly after surgery on the joints," the 53-year-old restaurateur says, describing it as a "cure" also for "ulcers and other stomach ailments caused by alcohol consumption.""

Read at The Mercury News