CUCINA Unesco, Italian cuisine nominated as a World Heritage Site

The choice of the government on the proposal of the Ministers of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty and of Culture

A set “of social practices, rituals and gestures based on the many local knowledge that, without hierarchies, identify and connote it”.

Italian cuisine is the official government candidate to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the proposal of the Ministers of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Francesco Lollobrigida and Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano. The National Commission, under the presidency of Franco Bernabè, unanimously approved the proposal which is now being examined by the Intergovernmental Committee for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage.

A continuous game of connections and exchanges

The dossier explores in detail a very long tradition with a thousand faces.

It reflects “the cultural biodiversity of the country”, with the common denominator “to conceive the moment of preparation and consumption of the meal at the table as an opportunity for sharing and comparison”.

Much more than the goodness of the food itself.

Everywhere in Italy, cooking is in fact «a way of taking care of family and friends (when cooking at home) or patrons (when cooking in cultural spaces such as “trattorie” and “osteria”); it is the result of a continuous game of connections and exchanges that from the previous generations reaches the new ones.

It is a manifestation of sustainable creativity both from an environmental point of view (because it is based on not wasting anything and on the reuse of leftovers) and from an economic point of view (because it is based on poor and seasonal ingredients) and social point of view (because it aims to include every diversity )”.

Enhancement of the great national heritage

«It is a decision that enhances what we consider a great national heritage, which concerns many Italians. Not only the Italians who live in Italy, who are 60 million, but also the 70 million who live outside our country, and also all the foreigners who love the Italian style and are inspired by it», commented Sangiuliano. According to the minister, Italian cuisine means «promoting the idea of ​​quality of life and Italian living which is made up of art, culture, landscapes, monuments, but also of experiences such as those of excellent food».

Promoting complexity

«Without taking anything away from Mexican, Spanish, French, Japanese and Korean cuisines – says Lollobrigida, warmly thanking Sangiuliano for the support – I believe that Italian cuisine has no rivals and that it was perhaps a problem that so far there hasn’t been the strength and the ability to promote its complexity.

Complexity made up of a system of values ​​that have been consolidating in our nation over time. But as far as Italian cuisine is concerned – he explains – we must also look at it from its multifaceted perspective: from the producer to the farmer up to the processor, the one who supplies us with the elements that end up in the kitchen, and our cooks who transform it into a precious commodity that it must be told in the dining room by the staff, to be trained in one of our excellent hotel schools. It must be told to the Italian citizens and to the buyers of well-being from all over the world».

The candidacy was promoted by the Culinary College, the Casa Artusi Foundation, La Cucina Italiana, the Italian Academy of Cuisine, while the writing of the dossier is due to Pier Luigi Petrillo, a Luiss professor, who had already overseen the UNESCO recognitions of the Dolomites, of Prosecco Superiore of Conegliano, the Mediterranean diet, the art of Neapolitan pizza makers. The evaluation procedure should be completed by December 2025 at the latest.

3/24/2023

Matteo Di Monaco

@cucinamatte

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