MACEDONIA WANTS TO PATENT AJVAR
National.
Macedonia’s government is taking steps to trademark its version of ajvar, a traditional dish that exists throughout the Balkans with slight modifications and under various names, in what may be the latest epic battle of the Balkan Culinary Wars.
Ajvar is a slightly piquant, mushy relish made of red peppers and aubergines. Though available in stores throughout the year, domestic production is usually prepared in the fall and conserved in jars for consumption in the winter.
Macedonia is trying to trademark the product under the brand name Macedonian Ajvar, the Southeast European Times Web site, SETimes.com, reported last week. If the trademark request is granted, according to the media, the brand would receive protection as a product with a certain geographic origin.
“The Macedonian government is attempting to make ajvar a world-recognised product," government spokesman Ivica Bocevski told SETimes.com, adding that “branding would allow production to be standardised with the ingredients and its preparation listed on the labels. This, in turn, will guarantee quality and competitiveness at home and on the world markets.”
The initiative is pressing ahead despite earlier efforts by a Slovenian company to patent the product that failed when ajvar was deemed a generic name and not subject to trademark protection as one country’s property.
MD: Nice, they should try to do that! Even though used in surrounding countries, Ajvar is something real Macedonian.
[Balkantravellers]
Yeah! sure... You should also patent peppers and onions and apples, they are typical 'Macedonian'. And because they are grown in Bulgaria and Greece it means those places are also 'Macedonian'...
But Ajvar is known as Bulgarian
Posted by Anonymous | 13:36
Bulgarians call it Lyutenitsa and it is a little hotter. Ajvar is creamier.
Posted by Anonymous | 12:33
On Wikipedia there is article that Ajvar comes from Serbia.But if you think logically there is no country that produce and uses peppers in it's cuisine as much as in Macedonia.
So the most accurate would be that Ajvar origins from Macedonia.
Posted by Anonymous | 23:40
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