Khash, Tolma, Harissa reason of food war – The Atlantic

There is perhaps nothing more closely bound up with one's national identity than food. Specific local dishes are often seen as the embodiment of various cultures and many nations promote their food as a celebration of national identity.

Sometimes, however, a country's cuisine can also be used to highlight national rivalries, The Atlantic writes.

Culinary flashpoints can also arise when neighboring nations all lay claim to the same regional dish. For instance, the Scots, English, and the Irish often bicker about whose fried breakfast is the original and the best of the species.

In the volatile Caucasus region, though, it seems that such food fights have now been taken to a whole new level. As Eurasianet.org reports, many Armenians are up in arms about a recent UNESCO decision to add the Anatolian stew "Keshkek" to its Intangible Cultural Heritage List on behalf of Turkey. They claim that "Keshkek" is actually an Armenian meal, which they call "Harissa."

Now a group of ethnographers from Turkey's eastern neighbor are actually compiling information on the dish to appeal the ruling by the UN's cultural agency.

The author of the article writes that Armenia’s "Development and Preservation of Armenian Culinary Traditions" organization, is intent on demonstrating that "the utensils, methods, and ingredients used for making...Harissa have a pure Armenian origin and it is a purely Armenian dish." The same organization has also attacked Georgia for commandeering "Khash." It insists that this tasty beef soup is in fact an Armenian national dish.

The author of the article also says the "Tolma" dish, which consists of meatballs wrapped in grape leaves, seems to be a particular bone of contention between Armenia and Azerbaijan, especially since Azerbaijani president publicly announced last year that it was an Azeri national dish.

This provoked a furious response in Armenia and various initiatives have been launched to help save the country's national dishes from "occupants." This even includes holding an annual Tolma Festival to reinforce the idea that it is a typically Armenian food.

Whatever the upshot of these culinary claims and counterclaims, it sadly doesn't seem like these regional rivals will be sitting down to break bread with each other anytime soon.