Italian Cuisine Honored as UNESCO Cultural Heritage

Recognition of Italian Culinary Traditions

Food lovers have another reason to celebrate as a United Nations agency has recognized Italian cooking as part of the world’s “intangible” cultural heritage. This designation highlights the rituals and traditions surrounding the preparation and consumption of food in Italy, adding it to the list of traditional practices and expressions that Unesco considers important for global cultural preservation.

This recognition is similar to the more widely known Unesco list of World Heritage sites, which includes iconic locations such as Rome’s Colosseum and the ancient city of Pompeii. However, this new addition focuses on the cultural significance of food and the way Italians approach mealtime.

The citation did not specify particular dishes or recipes but instead emphasized the importance of the rituals associated with cooking and eating. These include Sunday family lunches, the tradition of grandmothers teaching grandchildren how to fold tortellini dough, and the act of coming together to share a meal. According to Pier Luigi Petrillo, a member of the Italian Unesco campaign and professor of comparative law at Rome’s La Sapienza University, cooking is a gesture of love and a way to express care for others.

“This tradition of being at the table, of stopping for a while at lunch, a bit longer at dinner, and even longer for big occasions, it’s not very common around the world,” he said.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni celebrated the designation, stating that it honored Italians and their national identity. She emphasized that for Italians, cuisine is more than just food or recipes—it represents culture, tradition, work, and wealth.

A Global Trend in Recognizing Food Cultures

This is not the first time a country's cuisine has been acknowledged as a cultural expression. In 2010, Unesco listed the “gastronomic meal of the French” as part of the world’s intangible heritage, highlighting the French custom of celebrating important moments with food. Other examples include the “cider culture” of Spain’s Asturian region, the Ceebu Jen culinary tradition of Senegal, and the traditional way of making cheese in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Unesco meets annually to evaluate new candidates for its lists of intangible heritage. There are three categories: one for representative lists, another for practices in “urgent” need of safeguarding, and a third for good safeguarding practices. This year, the committee meeting in New Delhi considered 53 nominations for the representative list, which already includes 788 items. Other nominees included Swiss yodelling, the handloom weaving technique used to make Bangladesh’s Tangail sarees, and Chile’s family circuses.

Italy’s submission highlighted the “sustainability and biocultural diversity” of its food. The campaign noted how Italy’s simple cuisine values seasonality, fresh produce, and limiting waste, while its variety reflects regional culinary differences and influences from migrants and others.

Perspectives from Italians

For Francesco Lenzi, a pasta maker at Rome’s Osteria da Fortunata restaurant, Italian cuisine is unmatched. “For me, Italian cuisine is the best, top of the range. Number one. Nothing comes close,” he said. He also pointed out how spaghetti, often claimed to have originated in China, has become a global phenomenon. “Today, wherever you go in the world, everyone knows the word spaghetti. Everyone knows pizza.”

Mirella Pozzoli, a tourist visiting Rome’s Pantheon from the Lombardy region in northern Italy, shared her perspective on the importance of dining together. “Sitting at the table with family or friends is something that we Italians cherish and care about deeply. It’s a tradition of conviviality that you won’t find anywhere else in the world,” she said.

This recognition by Unesco underscores the deep cultural significance of food in Italy and highlights the country’s unique approach to cooking and sharing meals. It also reinforces the idea that cuisine is more than just sustenance—it is a reflection of identity, history, and community.