Pyongyang suffered a blow to its prestige two years ago when South Korea's kimchi -- a favourite dish made mostly from fermented cabbage -- was added to UNESCO's prestigious list of the world's "intangible cultural heritage".
Not to be outdone, the north's hardline Stalinist regime is now on the brink of getting the same classification for its own communist kimchi.
The fiery, often strong-smelling foodstuff can provoke equally strong emotions, with fierce rivalry between regions, communities and even families over whose kimchi is superior.
It is likely to joined on the list by the preparation of Arabic coffee, with which guests are traditionally welcomed in the region, following a successful joint campaign by Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar.
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Koreans traditionally get together in late November and early December to make enough kimchi to last through the peninsula's long hard winter.
Blood-red and eye-wateringly hot, kimchi is eaten daily by 95 percent of Koreans, and more than half have it at as a side dish at every meal, including breakfast, according to a 2011 survey.
But not everybody is a fan. The all-pervading odour given off as the cabbage ferments in its salty brine of garlic and chili for a month or more can be too strong for some.
Joking at kimchi's expense, nonetheless, got an Oscar-winning Hollywood film got into a pickle in 2014.
Koreans were not amused. They point to kimchi's status as a "superfood", and many believe it was its health benefits that protected them when acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spread from China in 2003.