Italian cuisine added to UNESCO list of cultural heritage

From cappuccino to gelato, pizza to spaghetti, Italian dishes have long been beloved at Canadian restaurants and in Canadian kitchens.

Now, Italian cuisine is being formally recognized for its global culinary and historical significance.

On Dec. 10, UNESCO added Italian cuisine to its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The announcement was made Tuesday in Rome, Italy, and in New Delhi, India, where the 20th session of UNESCO’s cultural heritage meetings was held.

“This recognition celebrates the strength of our culture,” said Francesco Lollobrigida, Italy’s minister of agriculture, food sovereignty and forestry. It is, he added, the story “of a people who have preserved their knowledge and transformed it into excellence.”

The announcement is also a source of pride for Italian Canadians, said Gino Marghella, chief operating officer of the Italian Centre Shop in Calgary.

More than 1.5 million Canadians have roots in Italy, according to Statistics Canada.

And there are more than 60 Italian restaurants in Calgary, plus several Italian grocery stores.

“UNESCO recognizing Italian cuisine as cultural heritage isn’t just about celebrating a few iconic dishes. It’s really about acknowledging a whole way of life that Italian families, including those of us who grew up in Italian-Canadian communities, brought with them across the ocean,” Marghella says.

“It reinforces the idea that Italian cuisine is culture. It’s the traditions our grandparents carried with them, the Sunday meals that shaped our families, and the techniques and ingredients they worked so hard to preserve for us.”

This is the first time a national cuisine has been added to the list, which includes music, craft, arts, religious and livestock traditions from around the world.

Canada is not yet represented on the list. But Canada has been recognized elsewhere by UNESCO and has several UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the national parks of Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho, as well as Alberta’s Writing-On-Stone and Dinosaur provincial parks.