Italian cuisine has been inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is the first cuisine in the world to be recognized in its entirety. This was unanimously approved by the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee, which met in New Delhi, India.

According to the decision, Italian cuisine is a " cultural and social blend of culinary traditions ," "a way to care for oneself and others, express love, and rediscover one's cultural roots , offering communities an outlet to share their history and describe the world around them."

The news was greeted with prolonged applause from the audience. The Italian proposal was among 60 applications from 56 countries under consideration.

UNESCO emphasizes how Italian cooking "fosters social inclusion, promoting well-being and offering a channel for lifelong intergenerational learning, strengthening bonds, encouraging sharing, and fostering a sense of belonging." For Italians, cooking is "a community activity that emphasizes intimacy with food, respect for ingredients, and moments shared around the table. The practice is rooted in anti-waste recipes and the transmission of flavors, skills, and memories across generations. As a multigenerational practice, with perfectly interchangeable roles, cooking plays an inclusive role, allowing everyone to enjoy an individual, collective, and continuous experience of exchange, overcoming all intercultural and intergenerational barriers."

The decision also emphasizes that the candidacy dossier, edited by jurist Pier Luigi Petrillo, demonstrates "the significant efforts made by communities over the last sixty years, particularly by key representative bodies such as the magazine La Cucina Italiana, the Italian Academy of Cuisine, and the Casa Artusi Foundation."

With the inscription of Italian cuisine as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Italy holds the world record for recognition in the agri-food sector in proportion to the total number of recognitions received. Of the 21 traditions inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, nine are related to agri-food: Italian cuisine, the art of Neapolitan pizza makers, transhumance (transhumance), the construction of dry stone walls in agriculture, the cultivation of the alberello vine of the Zibibbo grape of Pantelleria, the Mediterranean diet, truffle hunting and hunting, traditional irrigation systems, and the breeding of Lipizzan horses.

(Unioneonline)

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