UNESCO gave the first green light to a bid for Italian cuisine to be added to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, bringing Italy closer to formal recognition for its food traditions.
The United Nations cultural body on Monday gave its initial approval for the bid after reviewing Italy’s nomination dossier, according to news agency Ansa.
Italy’s proposal, which highlights the close links between Italian food, culture and lifestyle, was made jointly by the ministries of culture and agriculture.
In September, Italy held an open-air Sunday lunch in the Roman Forum attended by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the ministers of culture and agriculture, Alessandro Giuli and Francesco Lollobrigida, to promote the bid.
Promoting the candidature at an open-air Sunday lunch in the Roman Forum in September, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters Italian cuisine was “one of the most extraordinary things we have, expressing our culture, our identity, our tradition, but also our strength.”
The recommendation now goes to UNESCO’s committee for a final decision when it meets in New Delhi from December 8-13th.
If approved next month, Italian cuisine would join the Neapolitan art of pizza-making and the Mediterranean diet, which are already on UNESCO’s list.
READ ALSO: Why claims Italian cuisine is a ‘modern invention’ have angered Italy
The bid to identify Italian cuisine as a symbol of national identity and pride comes as Italy’s government continued to promote the idea of a broader, unified “Made in Italy” brand.
Advertisement
Many food experts however point out that it’s difficult to define one single “Italian” cuisine, as regional variations remain enormous in a country that was only unified in 1861.
Traditional cooking in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 19th century and bordering Austria and Slovenia, for example, bears little resemblance to Sicilian cuisine, which largely developed under French and Spanish rule.
The government’s UNESCO bid came as it railed against what Business and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso on Friday called an “invasion” of “low quality” foreign products from ultra-fast fashion and e-commerce brands – even as McDonald’s remains hugely popular in Italy, and Starbucks continues to expand.
Dining and Cooking