Gastronationalism#Borscht

Atsuko Ichijo and Ronald Ranta have called food "fundamentally political" and "one of the essential commodities with which political powers at various levels are concerned".{{Cite book|last1=Ichijo|first1=Atsuko|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/928396294|title=Food, national identity and nationalism : from everyday to global politics|last2=Ranta|first2=Ronald|date=2016|isbn=978-1-137-48313-3 | publisher = Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke, Hampshire|oclc=928396294}}{{Rp|page=|pages=1–2}} Food historian Michelle T. King suggests that cuisine is a natural focus for studies of nationalism, pointing out dozens of such treatments over the first decades of the 21st century.{{Rp|page=1}} She also argues Asia's culinary nationalism has been particularly intense.{{Rp|page=1}} Examples of gastronationalism include efforts by state bodies, nongovernmental bodies, businesses and business groups, and individuals.{{Rp|pages=121–124}}

New York University professor Fabio Parasecoli has defined food as an expression of identity. Conflict between two or more regions or countries about whether a particular dish or preparation is claimed by one of those regions or countries and has been appropriated or co-opted by the others is not uncommon, especially in areas where there has been violent conflict. Dishes affected by these culinary wars tend to be those with "a clearly symbolic ethnic significance". They also tend to be dishes that "represent territorial aspirations" and can be developed and prepared only by settled – and therefore indigenous – peoples. Lavash and harissa are wheat-based, therefore cannot have been developed by nomads but only by an agricultural society. Many of the debates center around the idea that a "settled" society – that is, an agricultural rather than nomadic one – is somehow superior, and that claiming a dish only achievable in an agricultural society helps prove the area was agricultural at a certain point. This idea was official policy in the Soviet Union.{{Verify source|date=August 2021}} According to OpenDemocracy, "evidence of ancient agricultural development is cherished by nationalists on both sides."

Mary Douglas said "national food cultures become a blinding fetish which, if disregarded, may be as dangerous as an explosion".

In 2006 researcher Liora Gvion argued that cuisines of poverty – typically, traditional foods – "reveal the inter-connection between the culinary discourse and the political one" and that the issue was tied up with those of access to land and national identity.{{Cite journal|last=Gvion|first=Liora|date=30 October 2006|title=Cuisines of poverty as means of empowerment: Arab food in Israel|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-006-9003-7|journal=Agriculture and Human Values|language=en|volume=23|issue=3|pages=299–312|doi=10.1007/s10460-006-9003-7|s2cid=153765925|issn=0889-048X|url-access=subscription}}

Sociologist Michaela DeSoucey in 2010 described the concept of gastronationalism as the use of food and its history, production, control, and consumption as a way of promoting nationalism.{{Citation|last=DeSoucey|first=Michaela|title=Gastronationalism|date=29 February 2012|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470670590.wbeog226|encyclopedia=The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization|pages=wbeog226|editor-last=Ritzer|editor-first=George|place=Chichester, UK|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|language=en|doi=10.1002/9780470670590.wbeog226|isbn=978-0-470-67059-0|access-date=24 August 2021|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824200105/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470670590.wbeog226|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=DeSoucey|first=Michaela|date=2010|title=Gastronationalism: Food Traditions and Authenticity Politics in the European Union|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122410372226|journal=American Sociological Review|language=en|volume=75|issue=3|pages=432–455|doi=10.1177/0003122410372226|s2cid=220292410|issn=0003-1224|access-date=24 August 2021|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824200943/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0003122410372226|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite web|date=10 December 2020|title=Gastronationalism: Poverty Reduction and Cultural Solidarity|url=https://www.borgenmagazine.com/gastronationalism/|access-date=24 August 2021|website=Borgen Magazine|language=en-US|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824205959/https://www.borgenmagazine.com/gastronationalism/|url-status=live}} According to DeSoucey, gastronationalism uses food to promote a sense of national identity and affects how members of the national community develop "national sentiments and taste preferences for certain foods."{{Cite book|last=Eskine|first=Kendall J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/953031956|title=Metaphoric Determinants of Food and Identity in The Routledge handbook of food ethics|publisher=Routledge|others=Mary Rawlinson, Caleb Ward|year=2016|isbn=978-1-317-59550-2|location=Basingstoke|pages=30|oclc=953031956}} She argues that the issues go beyond simple nationalism and involve livelihoods and a "struggle for markets" as the identification of a certain food with a certain area means the ability to sell a food product is affected for those inside or outside the area. She also points out that such arguments are often not intended to reach agreement but instead to raise awareness of the food product and generate interest in obtaining it.

Kingston University's Ranta in 2018 said a group's claims to a particular food become important when a "cause or agenda is behind the claim".{{Cite news |last=Vered |first=Ronit |date=13 June 2018 |title=Israelis or Arabs – Who Owns Falafel - and Does It Matter? |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/food/2018-06-13/ty-article-magazine/.premium/which-nation-owns-falafel-and-does-it-matter/0000017f-e498-d7b2-a77f-e79f24d30000 |access-date=2023-12-19 |archive-date=25 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225122513/https://www.haaretz.com/food/2018-06-13/ty-article-magazine/.premium/which-nation-owns-falafel-and-does-it-matter/0000017f-e498-d7b2-a77f-e79f24d30000 |url-status=live }}

In 2013 Al Jazeera noted that gastronationalism had been an ongoing issue in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia as each country "vie[d] for the recognition of certain dishes as their own" and was causing tension among neighboring countries with already-troubled relationships.{{Cite web|last1=Gaedtke|first1=Felix|last2=Parameswaran|first2=Gayatri|title=Food feuds simmer|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/5/8/food-feuds-continue-to-simmer-in-the-caucasus|access-date=24 August 2021|website=Aljazeera.com|language=en|archive-date=21 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921034703/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2013/5/8/food-feuds-continue-to-simmer-in-the-caucasus|url-status=live}}

In 2020 an article published by the Cambridge University Press found that while the concept of gastronationalism had not been fully developed in academia, the scholarship was developing quickly.{{Cite journal|last=Ichijo|first=Atsuko|date=2020|title=Food and Nationalism: Gastronationalism Revisited|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0090599219001041/type/journal_article|journal=Nationalities Papers|language=en|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=48|issue=2|pages=215–223|doi=10.1017/nps.2019.104|s2cid=213431725|issn=0090-5992|url-access=subscription}} In 2024 journalist Francesca Barca, writing in Voxeurop, called gastronationalism ' "neither neutral nor harmless, but is an aspect of what is called "banal nationalism",' quoting Gastronationalizmo author Michael Antonio Fino as saying "Gastronationalism is one of the most insidious forms of this 'banal nationalism' because it is met with a certain indulgence, and mistaken for patriotic pride."{{Cite web |last=Barca |first=Francesca |date=26 September 2024 |title=Gastronationalism: behind the pride in traditional cuisine |url=https://voxeurop.eu/en/gastronationalism-cuisine-food-sovereignty/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Voxeurop |language=en-US}}

Food historian King differentiates between gastronationalism, or culinary nationalism, and national cuisine, saying that culinary nationalism "suggests a dynamic process of creation and contestation" while national cuisine "calls to mind a specific and static product".{{Rp|page=3}}

According to Barca, gastronationalism is used as a political symbol for a party or movement's values, and in particular traditional or populist values. She argues "The passage from fork to defence of traditional values is short", quoting Matteo Salvini saying the "defence of our products is a battle of civilisation: in politics everything can be negotiated, but here Made in Italy either is or is not" and called tortellini made without pork an erasure of "our history". According to Fino, "national gastronomic identity becomes an occasion for belonging, opposition to others, a claim to superiority".

When the Czech Republic entered the European Union, controversies developed over traditional Czech foods, such as the Czech style of goulash, which traditionally is allowed to rest unchilled overnight before serving, a step forbidden in commercial production by European Union food-handling rules; pomazánkové máslo, which in Czech is "spread butter" but which by EU standards has a fat content too low to be called butter; and the Czech style of rum, which because it is potato-based cannot be called rum under EU rules; conservative politicians objected that entering the EU was removing these foods from traditional cuisine.{{Cite web |date=2012-10-18 |title=Czechs lose the butter battle to the EU |url=https://english.radio.cz/czechs-lose-butter-battle-eu-8550321 |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Radio Prague International |language=en}}

According to Boróka Parászka, writing in Hvg, Hungarian politicians regularly use food to "invoke identity", citing as an example Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's frequent discussion and images of cooking and food in his communications.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is a project of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization which creates advice regarding food handling, labeling, and ethical standards, including those around marketing a food as originating in a certain place.{{Rp|pages=122–124}}

In some cases United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has made statements favoring one side or the other of such an argument, sometimes after being asked to name a food to a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list for a country, which has increased passions on either side.{{Rp|pages=147–157}} In 1972 UNESCO adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage or World Heritage Convention.{{Rp|page=147}}

In Europe, mandatory origin labeling is "one of the most prickly topics" in European Union (EU) policy discussions.{{Cite web|last1=Wanat|first1=Zosia|last2=Hanke Vela|first2=Jakob|date=23 December 2019|title=The rise of the gastronationalists|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/origin-labels-europe-the-rise-of-the-gastronationalists/|access-date=24 August 2021|website=Politico|language=en-US|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824204524/https://www.politico.eu/article/origin-labels-europe-the-rise-of-the-gastronationalists/|url-status=live}} In December 2019 France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain asked the EU to strengthen food origin labeling; Politico called the request a "bombshell", as it weakens the idea of a single market. The Protected Geographical Status as of 2016 had been applied to over a thousand food items.{{Rp|page=14}} Fino calls such protections "a powerful tool in the hands of member countries to feed nationalism".

Azerbaijan's National Culinary Centre, a non-governmental organization (NGO) publishes information discussing Azerbaijan's national cuisine and accusing Armenian cuisine of imitating Azerbaijan. The NGO's CEO said, ""Since 1989, the issue of Armenian pretentions towards Azerbaijan's culinary traditions has been discussed at the highest level, by specialists and academics, many times. Every pan-Turkish, Islamic dish, including those from Azerbaijan, is claimed as Armenian – they are trying to prove that an Armenian culinary tradition exists." Armenia's Society for the Preservation and Development of Armenian Culinary Traditions, an academic body, has discussed the Armenian culinary tradition.

During the hummus wars, multiple corporations and business groups became involved as part of their marketing campaigns.{{Rp|pages=121–123}}

Colombia and Venezuela have a "heated and longstanding rivalry" over the origins of the arepa.{{Cite web |last=Wagner |first=James |date=26 November 2024 |title=Colombia and Venezuela Have a Beef: Who Owns the, or Makes the Best, Arepa? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/world/americas/colombia-venezuela-arepas-food.html |website=New York Times}} The dish is a staple of both cuisines. Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro "has tried to use arepas as a nationalist rallying point, if not a political tool, claiming the food is from his country alone", according to the New York Times. According to food anthropologist Ocarina Castillo of the Central University of Venezuela, the dish is likely thousands of years old and originated in the region now occupied by the two countries before colonizers of the area drew borders.

Borscht is believed to have originated in Kievan Rus' and specifically in the area of modern-day Ukraine,{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Jenn |date=2022-03-09 |title=Are certain dishes Ukrainian or Russian? It's complicated |url=https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2022-03-09/ukrainian-food-russian-food-putin |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=13 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813111636/https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2022-03-09/ukrainian-food-russian-food-putin |url-status=live }} but according to historian Alison K. Smith, the dish's "Ukrainian origins have been largely obscured" as it became ubiquitous in Russian cuisine.{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Alison Karen |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1238089971 |title=Cabbage and Caviar : a History of Food in Russia |date=2021 |isbn=978-1-78914-365-2 | publisher = Reaktion Books |location=London |oclc=1238089971}}{{Rp|pages=30,33,45–47}}

The dish was described in Sergei Drukovtsov's Cooking Notes (1779),{{Rp|page=45}} but is believed to have entered popular Russian cuisine from the popular 1939 Soviet cookbook Book of Tasty and Healthy Food that included dishes from various cuisines of the USSR's member states. The state-sponsored cookbook was created by Commissar of Food Anastas Mikoyan in a conscious attempt at creating a Soviet national cuisine for nation-building purposes.

In 2019, the official Twitter account of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation referred to borscht as "one of Russia's most famous & beloved #dishes & a symbol of traditional cuisine" in one of their tweets, sparking outrage in Ukraine, where it was widely seen as an attempt at cultural appropriation.{{cite news |last=Evans |first=Andrew |date=15 October 2019 |title=Who really owns borsch? |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20191014-who-really-owns-borsch |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-date=27 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827092153/https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20191014-who-really-owns-borsch |url-status=live}}

In response, Ukraine applied for the inclusion of borscht in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List{{cite news |last=Raczkiewycz |first=Mark |date=11 November 2020 |title=Not Just Soup: Ukraine Seeks 'Cultural Heritage' Listing For Borscht |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-borscht-unesco--cultural-heritage-listing/30887117.html |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-date=15 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615080401/https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-borscht-unesco--cultural-heritage-listing/30887117.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Dartford |first=Katy |date=1 April 2021 |title=Borscht soup could become official Ukrainian cultural heritage |publisher=Euronews |url=https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021/04/01/borscht-soup-set-to-become-official-ukrainian-cultural-heritage |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-date=5 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805092048/https://www.euronews.com/travel/2021/04/01/borscht-soup-set-to-become-official-ukrainian-cultural-heritage |url-status=live }} and launched a five-year culinary diplomacy strategy dubbed 'borsch diplomacy' where borscht plays a central role.{{cite news |last=Mendelson Forman |first=Johanna |date=23 December 2021 |title=Ukraine's Borsch Diplomacy |publisher=Inkstick Media |url=https://inkstickmedia.com/ukraines-borsch-diplomacy/ |access-date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=25 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525063443/https://inkstickmedia.com/ukraines-borsch-diplomacy/ |url-status=live }} UNESCO added the soup to the organization's list for Ukraine in 2020.{{Cite news |title=Culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/culture-ukrainian-borscht-cooking-inscribed-list-intangible-cultural-heritage-need-urgent#:~:text=Culture%20of%20Ukrainian%20borscht%20cooking%20was%20today%20inscribed%20on%20UNESCO's,Parties%20to%20the%20UNESCO%20Convention. |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250220075854/https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/culture-ukrainian-borscht-cooking-inscribed-list-intangible-cultural-heritage-need-urgent |archive-date=2025-02-20 |access-date=2025-02-25 |language=en}}

Shortly after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the fact Ukrainians "didn't want to share borscht" was an example of alleged "xenophobia, Nazism, extremism in all forms" that led to the invasion.{{cite news |last=Quinn |first=Allison |date=8 April 2022 |title=Russia Claims Ukraine's Refusal to Share Borscht Proves 'Nazism' |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia-claims-ukraines-refusal-to-share-borscht-proves-nazism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603105223/https://www.thedailybeast.com/russia-claims-ukraines-refusal-to-share-borscht-proves-nazism |archive-date=3 June 2022 |access-date=3 June 2022 |website=The Daily Beast}}{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Claire |date=8 April 2022 |title='You couldn't share borscht' Lavrov's mouthpiece offers baffling excuse for Ukraine war |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1593577/russia-Maria-Zakharova-ukraine-war-share-borscht-recipe-latest-vn |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507194026/https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1593577/russia-Maria-Zakharova-ukraine-war-share-borscht-recipe-latest-vn |archive-date=7 May 2022 |access-date=3 June 2022 |newspaper=Daily Express}} Shortly after, UNESCO added "Culture of Ukrainian borscht cooking" to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, citing the invasion.{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Alys |date=1 July 2022 |title=Borsch soup in Ukraine added to Unesco endangered heritage list |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62013362 |website=BBC}}{{Cite news |last=Selyukh |first=Alina |date=2022-07-01 |title=UNESCO declares borsch cooking an endangered Ukrainian heritage |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/07/01/1109319174/unesco-declares-ukraine-borsch-ukrainian-heritage |access-date=2025-02-25 |work=NPR |language=en}} According to The Smithsonian, "The designation by the international cultural authority was widely seen as a landmark decision in the ongoing cultural dispute between the two countries on borshch’s true country of origin."{{Cite web |last=Zhang |first=Daniel |last2= |first2= |date=3 July 2023 |title=A Brief History of Borshch |url=https://festival.si.edu/blog/a-brief-history-of-borshch |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=Smithsonian Folklife Festival |language=en-US}}

Taiwan has presented Taiwanese cuisine as the only remnant of traditional Chinese culture and cuisine, which the Nationalist Party argued had "been destroyed on the Chinese Mainland after the Communist takeover".{{Rp|pages=56–72}} On the other hand, some Taiwanese object to the politically fraught inclusion of Taiwanese cuisine under the banner of regional Chinese cuisine and argue that it is "inaccurate".{{cite web |last1=Tsai |first1=Luke |title=The Bay Area's Taiwanese Food Scene Comes Into Its Own |url=https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897272/bay-area-taiwanese-food-scene-nostalgia |access-date=22 May 2021 |website=www.kqed.org |publisher=kqed |archive-date=21 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521224737/https://www.kqed.org/arts/13897272/bay-area-taiwanese-food-scene-nostalgia |url-status=live }}

In 2011, the Michelin Green Guide to Taiwan attributed the origins of minced pork rice to Shandong. This led to a fierce debate in Taiwan with many people insisting that minced pork rice originated in Taiwan,{{Cite web |date=2011-08-30 |title=Taipei serves up free 'luroufan' to set record straight - Taipei Times |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/08/30/2003512028 |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=www.taipeitimes.com |archive-date=15 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915133059/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/08/30/2003512028 |url-status=live }} while others viewed it as a Shandong dish that simply caught on in Taiwan.{{Cite web |last=ChuckOrz (Chuckorz) |title=魯肉飯出自山東 朱振藩: 99.8%沒錯 @ 網路行銷DIY :: 痞客邦 :: |url=http://chuckorz.pixnet.net/blog/post/64410743 |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=網路行銷DIY |date=19 June 2011 |language=zh-TW |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227080444/https://chuckorz.pixnet.net/blog/post/64410743 |url-status=live }}

Shanghainese people have criticized the Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung of misrepresenting the xiao long bao as a Taiwanese dish.{{Cite web |date=2016-11-17 |title=Food Wars: Xiaolongbao Edition |url=https://www.good.is/food/xiaolongbao-taiwan-shanghai |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=Good Worldwide |language=en |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809042959/https://www.good.is/food/xiaolongbao-taiwan-shanghai |url-status=live }}

In October 2020, a Japanese bakery c'est très fou launched the product "Taiwanese pineapple bun", which received criticism from Hong Kongers for suggesting the product originated in Taiwan.{{Cite web |last=子萱 |first=楊 |date=2021-01-19 |title=Japan wrongly called the inventor of Hong Kong pineapple buns |url=https://chinapost.nownews.com/20210119-2038107 |access-date=2021-10-03 |website=The China Post, Taiwan |language=en-US |archive-date=24 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224184803/https://chinapost.nownews.com/20210119-2038107 |url-status=live }}

Dolma or tolma is claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan.{{Cite web|last=Tsaturyan|first=Ruzanna|date=23 June 2017|title=A culinary conflict in the South Caucasus|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/culinary-conflict-south-caucasus-karabakh/|access-date=24 August 2021|website=OpenDemocracy|language=en|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824164543/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/culinary-conflict-south-caucasus-karabakh/|url-status=live}} Armenia holds an annual tolma festival, always at a site that has historical significance in its conflicts with Azerbaijan.

Both Nicaragua and Costa Rica claim gallo pinto as their own, and the dish's origin is a point of contention between the two countries.{{Cite journal |last=Preston-Werner |first=Theresa |date=2020-07-10 |title= Gallo Pinto: Tradition, Memory, and Identity in Costa Rican Foodways |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/256967 |journal=Journal of American Folklore |volume=122}}{{Cite web|url=https://theculturetrip.com/central-america/costa-rica/articles/costa-rica-vs-nicaragua-who-really-invented-gallo-pinto/|title = Costa Rica vs Nicaragua: Who Really Invented Gallo Pinto?| date=7 November 2017 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.thelatinamericatravelcompany.com/gallo-pinto-costa-ricas-national-dish/|title = Gallo Pinto, Costa Rica's National Dish - Latin America Travel Company|date = 27 April 2017}} The competition between the two countries over ownership of the dish is sometimes referred to as the "Gallo Pinto War".{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2005-01-14 |title=Costa Rica Strikes Back in Gallo Pinto War |url=https://ticotimes.net/2005/01/14/costa-rica-strikes-back-in-gallo-pinto-war |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=The Tico Times |language=en-US}}

{{Main|Politics of food in the Arab-Israeli conflict}}

Falafel is argued over by Israel and various Arab states; according to Jennie Ebeling, writing in the Review of Middle East Studies, the dish "is loaded with issues of national identity".{{Cite journal |last=Ebeling |first=Jennie |date=December 2013 |title=Falafelism: The Politics of Food in the Middle East |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-middle-east-studies/article/abs/falafelism-the-politics-of-food-in-the-middle-east-palestine-israel-2013-color-50-min-in-arabic-hebrew-and-english-with-english-subtitles-director-ari-a-cohen-producer-ari-a-cohen-distributor-arab-film-distribution-seattle-wa-98121-tel-206-3220882-institutionsarabfi-lmcom/40C08638A7DC1E74BF5F2F33410BEA11 |journal=Review of Middle East Studies |language=en |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=228–229 |doi=10.1017/S2151348100058146 |issn=2151-3481|url-access=subscription }} According to Alexander Lee, writing for History Today in 2019, "More often than not, arguments about the origins of falafel are refracted through the lens of political rivalries. Particularly for the Israelis and the Palestinians, ownership of this most distinctively Levantine dish is inexorably bound up with issues of legitimacy and national identity. By claiming falafel for themselves, they are each, in a sense, claiming the land itself – and dismissing the other as an interloper or occupier."{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Alexander |date=1 January 2019 |title=The Origin of Falafel {{!}} History Today |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/historians-cookbook/falafel |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=History Today}}

The dish features prominently in Israeli cuisine and has been called a national dish.{{cite book |last=Pilcher |first=Jeffrey M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lbEVK2DSu3AC&q=falafel |title=Food in World History |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-415-31146-5 |page=115 |access-date=12 December 2023 |archive-date=19 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219151047/https://books.google.com/books?id=lbEVK2DSu3AC&q=falafel |url-status=live }} Some Palestinians and other Arabs have objected to the identification of falafel with Israeli cuisine as amounting to cultural appropriation. Palestinian author Reem Kassis wrote that the food has become a proxy for political conflict.{{cite news |author=Reem Kassis |date=18 February 2020 |title=Here's why Palestinians object to the term 'Israeli food': It erases us from history |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/heres-why-palestinians-object-to-the-term-israeli-food-it-erases-us-from-history/2020/02/14/96974a74-4d25-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212093607/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/heres-why-palestinians-object-to-the-term-israeli-food-it-erases-us-from-history/2020/02/14/96974a74-4d25-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html |archive-date=12 February 2021}} Joseph Massad, a Jordanian-American professor at Columbia University, has called the characterization as Israeli of falafel and other dishes of Arab origin in American and European restaurants to be part of a broader issue of appropriation by colonizers.{{cite web |author=Joseph Massad |date=17 November 2021 |title=Israel-Palestine: How food became a target of colonial conquest |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-food-colonial-conquest-target-how |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322093553/https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-food-colonial-conquest-target-how |archive-date=22 March 2023 |access-date=22 March 2023 |publisher=Middle East Eye}}

The dish and its politico-cultural significance were the subject of a 2013 documentary by Ari Cohen, Falafelism: The Politics of Food in the Middle East.{{Cite web |last=Campbell |first=Lisa |date=1 July 2015 |title=Falafelism: The Politics of Food in the Middle East |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/falafelism-the-politics-of-food-in-the-middle-east |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=Library Journal |archive-date=19 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219143925/https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/falafelism-the-politics-of-food-in-the-middle-east |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Ghert-Zand |first=Renee |date=2010-09-14 |title=2000 Falafel Balls and Counting, A Mission To Understand the Falafel |url=https://forward.com/food/131222/2000-falafel-balls-and-counting-a-mission-to-under/ |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=The Forward |language=en |archive-date=31 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131012937/https://forward.com/food/131222/2000-falafel-balls-and-counting-a-mission-to-under/ |url-status=live }} According to the Toronto Star, Cohen intended the film to be about "the unifying power of falafel".{{Cite web |last=Pataki |first=Amy |date=2010-08-17 |title=Falafelism: This movie will make you ravenous |url=https://www.thestar.com/life/food-and-drink/falafelism-this-movie-will-make-you-ravenous/article_da6f7c7c-7668-54a2-9ad8-515ad4a477d4.html |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=Toronto Star |language=en |archive-date=19 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219143937/https://www.thestar.com/life/food-and-drink/falafelism-this-movie-will-make-you-ravenous/article_da6f7c7c-7668-54a2-9ad8-515ad4a477d4.html |url-status=live }} The earliest documented references to falafel date back to late 19th-century Egypt, following the British occupation in 1882. {{cite web |last=Rodriguez |first=Rachel |title=The Origin of Falafel |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/historians-cookbook/falafel |website=History Today |access-date=19 February 2025}}

In 2002, Concordia University's chapter of Hillel served falafel at an event, prompting accusations of appropriation from a pro-Palestinian student group.{{Cite news |last1=Peritz |first1=Ingrid |last2=Ha |first2=Tu Thanh |date=2002-09-14 |title=Concordia: A campus in conflict |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/concordia-a-campus-in-conflict/article1026207/ |access-date=2023-12-19 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409145320/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/concordia-a-campus-in-conflict/article1026207/ |url-status=live }}

Until 1999, the term feta was used only by Greek producers. During the 1990s, Denmark and Germany challenged the labelling, arguing that the word 'feta' was Italian and that other EU countries shared climate and geography with parts of Greece and should be permitted to label their feta-style cheeses as Feta. In 2002 the European Union granted the sole rights to use the name to Greece.{{Rp|pages=122}}

Foie gras has been protected as a name and signifier of traditional identity by France; conflict is common with animal rights activists.{{Cite book|last=DeSoucey|first=Michaela|title=Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food|date=5 July 2016|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-15493-0|language=en|doi=10.23943/princeton/9780691154930.003.0003}}

Hainanese chicken rice is claimed by both Malaysia and Singapore. The conflict dates to 1965, when the two countries split.{{cite web |last1=Tan |first1=Dylan |title=Chicken rice war reignited as Lim Guan Eng urged Malaysia to give Singapore a run for its money |url=https://www.businessinsider.my/lim-guan-eng-malaysia-singapore-chicken-rice/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115023009/https://www.businessinsider.my/lim-guan-eng-malaysia-singapore-chicken-rice/ |archive-date=15 January 2019 |access-date=14 January 2019 |work=Business Insider}}{{cite web |last1=Loh |first1=Lainey |title=Malaysia vs Singapore: Who has better food? |url=https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/06/malaysia-vs-singapore-who-has-better-food/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114210258/https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/06/malaysia-vs-singapore-who-has-better-food/ |archive-date=14 January 2019 |access-date=14 January 2019 |publisher=Asian Correspondent}} Both countries claim its origin and accuse the other of having appropriated the dish into their own national cuisine.{{cite web |last1=Sukmaran |first1=Tashny |last2=Jaipragas |first2=Bhavan |date=9 September 2018 |title=FOOD FIGHT, LAH: WHO WILL EAT THEIR WORDS IN SINGAPORE-MALAYSIA HAWKER BATTLE? |url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/2163197/food-fight-lah-who-will-eat-their-words-singapore |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221195527/https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/2163197/food-fight-lah-who-will-eat-their-words-singapore |archive-date=21 February 2019 |access-date=13 January 2019 |work=South China Morning Post}}{{cite web |last1=Celjo |first1=Farah |title=Dipping sauce and a little controversy: who knew chicken rice had such 'wow' factor |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2018/11/01/dipping-sauce-and-little-controversy-who-knew-chicken-rice-had-such-wow-factor |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114062420/https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2018/11/01/dipping-sauce-and-little-controversy-who-knew-chicken-rice-had-such-wow-factor |archive-date=14 January 2019 |access-date=13 January 2019 |publisher=SBS}}{{cite web |title=The debate about the origins of food – a futile food fight? |url=http://chopinandmysaucepan.com/the-debate-on-the-origins-of-food-a-futile-food-fight |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232515/http://chopinandmysaucepan.com/the-debate-on-the-origins-of-food-a-futile-food-fight |archive-date=13 January 2019 |access-date=13 January 2019}}{{cite news |last=ENG HOCK |first=TEH |date=23 September 2009 |title=No intention to patent local food, Dr Ng says |url=http://www.thestar.com.my/story/?file=%2F2009%2F9%2F23%2Fnation%2F20090923170416& |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220125021/http://www.thestar.com.my/story/?file=%2f2009%2f9%2f23%2fnation%2f20090923170416& |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=12 January 2016 |newspaper=The Star Online |quote=Dr Ng said a study on the origins of foods in the country would be conducted and an apology conveyed if it was wrongly claimed.}}

Harissa is claimed by both Armenia and Turkey, where it is called keshkek. Keshkek was recognized by UNESCO on its intangible cultural heritage list, which has caused passionate debate, with Armenians arguing that the dish's main ingredient, wheat, indicates it could not have been developed in Turkey, where the tradition was nomadic.

{{Main|Politics of food in the Arab-Israeli conflict}}

Hummus is argued over by Israel, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon.{{Cite web|title=Gastronationalism|url=https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-1022-unforked|website=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=24 August 2021|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824215048/https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-1022-unforked|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=Who invented hummus? |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20171211-who-invented-hummus |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}} The disagreement is sometimes referred to as the "hummus wars".{{Rp|page=3}}{{Rp|pages=121–123}} The hummus wars also refers to the creation by Sabra, a US food company, of "the world's largest hummus plate" as a marketing event.{{Rp|pages=121–123}} Israeli company Osem responded with a larger hummus plate, and soon was followed by a group of Lebanese chefs working with the Association of Lebanese Industrialists's campaign "Hands Off Our Dishes", which claimed hummus as Lebanese and objected to the marketing of the dish as Israeli.{{Rp|pages=121–123}} Fadi Abboud, then president of ALI and later tourism minister for the country, threatened legal action against Israel for marketing hummus and other commercial food products as Israeli.{{Rp|pages=121–123}} A series of record-breaking hummus plates followed from various middle eastern countries.{{Rp|pages=121–123}} Abboud characterized the hummus wars as being not about just hummus but about "the organized theft carried out by Israel" in connection to the culture of the entire Arab region.{{Rp|pages=121–123}}

Various academic theories argue the dish has its origins in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, or Egypt.{{Cite web |last=Spechler |first=Diane |date=12 December 2017 |title=Who invented hummus? |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20171211-who-invented-hummus |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} However, the earliest mention of Hummus comes from a 13th-century cookbook written by the Syrian historian Ibn al-Adim. The strongest evidence currently points to Syria as the origin of Hummus.{{Cite web |last=Shaheen |first=Kareem |date=2023-03-24 |title=The True Origins of Hummus |url=https://newlinesmag.com/newsletter/the-true-origins-of-hummus/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=New Lines Magazine |language=en}}

West African countries typically have at least one variant form of jollof rice, with Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cameroon particularly competitive as to which country makes the best jollof.{{cite web |last=Sloley |first=Patti |date=7 June 2021 |title=Jollof Wars: Who does West Africa's iconic rice dish best? |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210607-jollof-wars-who-does-west-africas-iconic-rice-dish-best |access-date=16 July 2021 |website=BBC Travel |archive-date=16 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716110712/https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210607-jollof-wars-who-does-west-africas-iconic-rice-dish-best |url-status=live }} In the mid-2010s this expanded into the "Jollof Wars".{{Cite news |date=2017-08-25 |title=West Africa steams over jollof rice war |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41053424 |access-date=2023-09-18 |archive-date=20 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920232255/https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41053424 |url-status=live }}

The rivalry is especially prominent between Nigeria and Ghana.{{cite web |last1=Oderinde |first1=Busayo |date=5 July 2015 |title=Busayo Oderinde: The Nigerian Versus Ghanaian Jollof Rice Debate |url=https://www.bellanaija.com/2015/07/busayo-oderinde-the-nigerian-versus-ghanaian-jollof-rice-debate/ |access-date=15 November 2016 |website=Bella Naija |archive-date=20 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920195703/https://www.bellanaija.com/2015/07/busayo-oderinde-the-nigerian-versus-ghanaian-jollof-rice-debate/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2018-07-04 |title=Know the Differences Between Nigerian and Ghanaian Jollof Rice |url=https://www.demandafrica.com/food/know-the-differences-between-nigerian-and-ghanaian-jollof-rice/ |access-date=2021-07-11 |website=Demand Africa |archive-date=20 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920195642/https://demandafrica.com/food/know-the-differences-between-nigerian-and-ghanaian-jollof-rice/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Adam |first=Hakeem |date=20 January 2017 |title=A Brief History of Jollof Rice, a West African Favourite |url=https://theculturetrip.com/africa/ghana/articles/a-brief-history-of-jollof-rice-a-west-african-favourite/ |access-date=2020-01-16 |website=Culture Trip |archive-date=20 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230920232242/https://theculturetrip.com/africa/ghana/articles/a-brief-history-of-jollof-rice-a-west-african-favourite |url-status=live }} In 2016 Sister Deborah released "Ghana Jollof", which denigrated the Nigerian version and Nigerians for being proud of their version.{{Cite news |last=Egbejule |first=Eromo |date=2016-08-22 |title=World Jollof Day: Jamie Oliver's #ricegate and other scandals |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/22/world-jollof-day-jamies-oliver-rice-scandals |access-date=2023-09-18 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002064125/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/22/world-jollof-day-jamies-oliver-rice-scandals |url-status=live }} Soon after, a physical fight over insufficient jollof supplies at a Ghanaian political rally sparked delighted mockings of Ghanaians by Nigerians.

Of particular sensitivity in jollof-making communities is the inclusion of non-traditional ingredients, which are defined country to country and are seen as making the jollof inauthentic. In 2014 a recipe released by Jamie Oliver that included cherry tomatoes, coriander, lemon, and parsley, none of which are used in any traditional recipe, caused outraged reactions to the point Oliver's team had to issue a statement.

Both South Korea and North Korea claim kimchi.{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1100471127 |title=Culinary nationalism in Asia |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-350-07869-7 |editor=King |editor-first=Michelle Tien |editor-link=Michelle T. King |location=London, UK |pages= |oclc=1100471127}}{{Rp|page=xii}} North Korea argues that South Korea's decreasing consumption (and increasing commercialization of production) is proof that the dish is more strongly associated with North Korea.{{Rp|page=xii}} Traditional kimchi-making in South Korea in 2013 was given Intangible Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO{{Rp|page=xii}}{{Rp|page=123}} and in 2015 in North Korea.{{Cite web |title=Tradition of kimchi-making in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |publisher=Culture Sector, UNESCO |access-date=17 July 2022 |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tradition-of-kimchi-making-in-the-democratic-people-s-republic-of-korea-01063 |archive-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121063203/https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tradition-of-kimchi-making-in-the-democratic-people-s-republic-of-korea-01063 |url-status=live }}

Japan also has interested itself in kimchi, arguing with South Korea over the Codex Alimentarius Commission's (CAC) international standardization of the dish, a disagreement often called the kimchi war.{{Rp|pages=81–82}}{{Rp|page=123}} Japan produced and exported an instant version of kimchi, which South Korea argued should not be called kimchi due to the lack of fermentation.{{Rp|pages=81–82}} During the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Japan proposed making kimuchi, the Japanese name of the dish, an official food of the Olympics.{{Rp|pages=81–82}} In 2001 the CAC adopted an international standard which requires fermentation in order for a product to be exported as kimchi.{{Rp|pages=81–82}}

China has also claimed kimchi, which in China is called pao cai, which is also the name of a similar traditional Sechuan pickle.{{Cite web |date=18 December 2020 |title=How kimchi rekindled a decades-long feud |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20201217-how-kimchi-rekindled-a-decades-long-feud |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=BBC Travel |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |date=2020-11-30 |title=Kimchi ferments cultural feud between South Korea and China |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55129805 |access-date=2024-08-25 |language=en-GB}} In 2020 the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) announced regulations for the Sechuan pao cai. Although the ISO stated in the listing that the regulations did not apply to kimchi, China's state-run Global Times called it "an international standard for the kimchi industry led by China".

South Korea has called out as appropriation both the Japanese and Chinese marketing of the dish.{{Rp|page=123}}

Lavash is claimed by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey; the Armenians argue that lavash is traditionally prepared in a tonir, which indicates development in a non-nomadic society such as Armenia. Accusations in Armenian media centered around Turkey and Azerbaijan claiming the dish because they wanted to conceal their early nomadic lifestyle.

Nasi Lemak is a traditional dish in Southeast Asian cuisine.{{Cite web |last=Benedict |first=Brenda |date=12 November 2019 |title=Where is Malaysia's national dish? |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20191111-where-is-malaysias-national-dish |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=BBC Travel |language=en-GB}} It is claimed by both Malaysia and Singapore.

Shopska salad, which is considered a national dish of Bulgaria, is claimed by Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, North Macedonia, and Serbia.{{Cite web |last=Engelhardt |first=Karla |date=1 December 2015 |title=How "Balkantourist" came up with the Shop salad |url=https://www.dw.com/bg/%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA-%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82-%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B8-%D1%88%D0%BE%D0%BF%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0-%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0/a-18884940 |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=Deutsche Welle |language=bg}}{{Cite web |date=11 August 2009 |title=Serbian Publication: Shopska Salad Is Not Bulgarian |url=https://www.novinite.com/articles/106713/Serbian+Publication%3A+Shopska+Salad+Is+Not+Bulgarian |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=Sofia News Agency}}{{Cite web |last=Harizanova |first=Tanya |date=7 October 2009 |title=Shop salad - Balkan disputes and tastes |url=https://bnr.bg/radiobulgaria/post/100224131/shopskata-salata-balkanski-sporove-i-vkusove |access-date=2024-04-20 |website=Radio Bulgaria |language=bg}} Bulgaria requested protected geographical indication from the European Union; Serbia objected.{{Cite book |last=Detrez |first=Raymond |author-link=Raymond Detrez |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hywaBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA451 |title=Historical Dictionary of Bulgaria |date=2014-12-18 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4180-0 |language=de}}

During Mexico's tortilla riots, protesters chanted, "tortillas si, pan no!", expressing their nationalistic objection to replacing tortillas, with which they identified on a nationalistic level, with bread, which they saw as a colonialist introduction.{{Rp|page=2}}{{Cite web|title=75,000 protest tortilla prices in Mexico|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16918321|access-date=30 November 2021|website=NBC News|date=February 2007|language=en|archive-date=30 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130002753/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16918321|url-status=live}}{{Better source needed|date=November 2021}}

UNESCO has included Turkish coffee in its list of items of Intangible Cultural Heritage.{{Rp|page=14}} The style of coffee is also claimed by Greece.Leonidas Karakatsanis, Turkish-Greek Relations: Rapprochement, Civil Society and the Politics of Friendship, Routledge, 2014, {{isbn|0415730457}}, p. 111 and footnote 26: "The eradication of symbolic relations with the 'Turk' was another sign of this reactivation: the success of an initiative to abolish the word 'Turkish' in one of the most widely consumed drinks in Greece, i.e. 'Turkish coffee', is indicative. In the aftermath of the Turkish intervention in Cyprus, the Greek coffee company Bravo introduced a widespread advertising campaign titled 'We Call It Greek' (Emeis ton leme Elliniko), which succeeded in shifting the relatively neutral 'name' of a product, used in the vernacular for more than a century, into a reactivated symbol of identity. 'Turkish coffee' became 'Greek coffee' and the use of one name or the other became a source of dispute separating 'traitors' from 'patriots'."{{cite book|author-last=Mikes|author-first=George|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=06UVAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Greek+coffee%22|title=Eureka!: Rummaging in Greece|year=1965|page=29|quote=Their chauvinism may sometimes take you a little aback. Now that they are quarrelling with the Turks over Cyprus, Turkish coffee has been renamed Greek coffee; ...|author-link=George Mikes|access-date=2 December 2021|archive-date=25 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125221319/https://books.google.com/books?id=06UVAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Greek+coffee%22|url-status=live}}{{cite book|author-last=Browning|author-first=Robert|title=Medieval and Modern Greek|year=1983|isbn=0-521-29978-0|page=16|publisher=Cambridge University Press |author-link=Robert Browning (Byzantinist)}}Joanna Kakissis, "Don't Call It 'Turkish' Coffee, Unless, Of Course, It Is", The Salt, National Public Radio [https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/04/27/179270924/dont-call-it-turkish-coffee-unless-of-course-it-is 27 April 2013] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202192547/https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/04/27/179270924/dont-call-it-turkish-coffee-unless-of-course-it-is |date=2 December 2021 }}: '"It wasn't always this way," says Albert Arouh, a Greek food scholar who writes under a pen name, Epicurus. "When I was a kid in the 1960s, everyone in Greece called it Turkish coffee." Arouh says he began noticing a name change after 1974, when the Greek military junta pushed for a coup in Cyprus that provoked Turkey to invade the island.' "The invasion sparked a lot of nationalism and anti-Turkish feelings," he says. "Some people tried to erase the Turks entirely from the coffee's history, and re-baptized it Greek coffee. Some even took to calling it Byzantine coffee, even though it was introduced to this part of the world in the sixteenth century, long after the Byzantine Empire's demise." By the 1980s, Arouh noticed it was no longer politically correct to order a "Turkish coffee" in Greek cafes. By the early 1990s, Greek coffee companies like Bravo (now owned by DE Master Blenders 1753 of the Netherlands) were producing commercials of sea, sun and nostalgic village scenes and declaring "in the most beautiful country in the world, we drink Greek coffee."'

Washoku, a traditional food culture of the Japanese, was in 2013 added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List and in 2017 described by Leiden University's Katarzyna J. Cwiertka as "a myth fabricated for the purpose of Japanese nation-branding".{{Cite web|title=Washoku and Kimjang: Japanese Gastronationalism {{!}} Portland State University|url=https://www.pdx.edu/japanese-studies/washoku-and-kimjang-japanese-gastronationalism|access-date=24 August 2021|website=www.pdx.edu|archive-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824215642/https://www.pdx.edu/japanese-studies/washoku-and-kimjang-japanese-gastronationalism|url-status=live}}{{Rp|page=151}} According to Ichijo and Ranta, Japan's efforts to promote Japanese cuisine in other countries is "regarded as a way of increasing export of Japanese agricultural produce and attracting more tourists".{{Rp|page=151}}

• Gastrodiplomacy
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• Politics of food

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