GUAC-POT THEORY
Kim Jong-un’s dad ‘invented BURRITOS’ North Korea bizarrely claims as sales of Western dish ‘boom’
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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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”.
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