It is not this or that dish, the skill of a few hands or a distinctive typical product, but it is in the very essence of Italian cooking that the heart of the candidature for Unesco intangible heritage lies. The perspective constructed in the technical dossier is broadly articulated, because the object of protection is not so much the material artefacts or the gastronomic specificities, as the practice itself, the profound significance that the act of cooking holds in Italian history. The first positive technical opinion that arrived yesterday will be submitted for final crowning to the decision of the Intergovernmental Committee that will meet in India in New Delhi from 8 to 13 December.
A living heritage
The act of cooking in Italy ‘transcends the simple nutritional necessity to become a complex and stratified daily practice’, the editors Pier Luigi Petrillo, constitutionalist and heritage expert, and Massimo Montanari, food historian, point out in their proposal. It is a living heritage, built on a solid corpus of knowledge, consolidated rituals and gestures handed down that, over time, have shaped an unparalleled fusion between culinary habits, the ingenious and creative use of raw materials and methods of preparation that often retain a handcrafted character.
The country’s socio-cultural identity
Crucially, this fusion has not remained static. It has become the root of a shared tradition that shapes the socio-cultural identity of the country, the dossier states. The result is the so-called ‘living gastronomic landscapes’, environments that not only reflect, but actively enhance the unique biocultural diversity of each territory, establishing an indissoluble bridge between food and geographical context. “The Italian culinary experience is inherently collective and participatory. It revolves around a deep sense of intimacy with food, which manifests itself through the meticulous attention paid to the quality and seasonality of ingredients, and is completed in the joint ritual of meal preparation and final consumption.”
Anti-waste recipes
This practice has historically elevated the value of a cuisine often considered ‘poor’, but profoundly wise, embodied by anti-waste recipes. These principles of economy and culinary ingenuity were authoritatively collected and documented as early as 1891 by Pellegrino Artusi, in his fundamental work Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. More than a set of rules, this heritage is a vehicle for cultural transmission. It allows the dynamic exchange of tastes, skills, memories and, above all, emotions. This is how the ‘Cuisine of the Affections’ was born, a sentimental legacy that, through food, succeeds in welding and uniting different generations and transcending local and national borders. This emotional and aggregative power also actively involves the numerous Italian migrant communities scattered all over the world.
Petrillo: close to a paradigm shift
The eventual inscription would give Italy further primacy, according to Petrillo. ‘It would be the first cuisine in the world,’ comments the Luiss professor and former head of the world assessment body, ‘to be recognised as a world heritage site in its entirety. And this would entail a worldwide paradigm shift on the very meaning of the word ‘food’ because it would clearly affirm how food is first and foremost a cultural expression’.
Dining and Cooking