NORTH Korea has bizarrely claimed Kim Jong-un's dad invented burritos in 2011 — and despite food shortages sales of the dish were booming.
The regime’s propaganda mouthpiece said the late Kim Jong-il dreamed up the Tex-Mex dish back in 2011 shortly before his death from a massive heart attack.
6 The late Kim Jong-il, pictured wearing sunglasses as he tours a kitchen, has bizarrely been credited with inventing the burrito Credit: Credit: Pen News
6 The street food also made an appearance in a recent propaganda broadcast Credit: Credit: Pen News
6 A mural shows Kim Jong-il in a kitchen where burritos are being prepared Credit: Credit: Pen News
The wild claim follows an equally batty propaganda story that alleged Jong Il invented a dish called “double bread with meat” which was uncannily like a hamburger.
The burritos, meanwhile, are called “wheat wraps”.
The Rodong Sinmun newspaper claimed Jong-il's tubby tyrant son, Kim Jong-un, is following in the footsteps of his dad by taking a “meticulous interest” in the dish.
In State TV news footage, North Koreans can be seen devouring the burritos at a stand outside the Kumsong Food Factory in the capital Pyongyang.
The broadcast also showed a mural of Kim Jong-il grinning in a kitchen where burritos were being prepared.
But while the propaganda paints a picture of abundant street food, those who have escaped the secretive state insist that such dishes are virtually non-existent there.
Hyun-seung Lee, who was born into an elite North Korean family but fled the country in 2014, said most of his countrymen couldn't even dream of such a meal.
He said: “The majority of citizens do not have money to buy foreign food.
“In the 1990s, bread and butter lovers were satirised and criticised as socialist traitors.“
In many cases, he added, there simply weren’t the ingredients to recreate foreign foods.
“I have never seen any burritos or wraps on sale in North Korea,” he said.
“Perhaps there were no restaurants where you could eat burritos and wraps until now.
“The penetration rate of Western food in North Korea is extremely low, because there are very few restaurants where you can eat it and the food ingredients are not diverse.
“Various cooking ingredients such as milk, cheese, and spices are absolutely lacking.”
6 The burritos are said to be popular with North Koreans Credit: Credit: Pen News
6 The North Korean burritos are called 'wheat wraps' Credit: Credit: Pen News
Some differences between the North Korean burrito and its western cousin are immediately apparent.
For example, the Pyongyang version seems to feature some kind of doner meat, with what appears to be a mix of cabbage and carrot.
Kim Jong-il advised that the “wheat wraps” are best accompanied by mineral water in the summer and hot tea in the winter, the Rodong Sinmun added.
While ruling North Korea, he also claimed that sawdust was full of vitamins and nutrients.
Rowan Beard, a guide with Young Pioneer Tours – which specialises in organising North Korea trips – said he had not encountered the dish in Pyongyang.
The exact provenance of the modern burrito is unclear, however, the word burrito appears in an 1895 Mexican dictionary, where it is described as a foodstuff.
Away from propaganda, food shortages remain a big problem for North Korea, with Kim Jong-un himself acknowledging last June that the situation was “tense”.
6 Like his dad, Kim Jong-un loves his nosh
gordo65 on January 4th, 2022 at 23:28 UTC »
That is definitely not a burrito, and may well have been invented by Kim Il Sung (but probably invented by some other North Korean). I'm not sure what word they use for the dish in North Korea, but I'm willing to bet it isn't "burrito".
So what we have is a unique dish, and a British tabloid trying to dunk on North Korea because it bears some resemblance to a burrito.
statuskills on January 4th, 2022 at 21:02 UTC »
Anyone got any good names for Jong-un’s dad’s burrito food truck business?
GlitchyMcGlitchFace on January 4th, 2022 at 19:47 UTC »
"Kim Jong-il...invented the burrito" reminds me of Dr. Evil describing his childhood:
Dr. Evil: The details of my life are quite inconsequential.
Therapist: Oh no, please, please, let's hear about your childhood.
Dr Evil: Very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a fifteen year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink, he would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Some times he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy, the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical, summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we'd make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds, pretty standard really. At the age of 12 I received my first scribe. At the age of fourteen, a Zoroastrian named Vilma ritualistically shaved my testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum, it's breathtaking, I suggest you try it.
Therapist: You know, we have to stop.