The UNESCO committee has declared Italian cuisine an Intangible Cultural Heritage. The application, titled “Italian Cuisine between Sustainability and Biocultural Diversity,” was accepted. Now, Italy’s national pride is overflowing, much like after a World Cup victory. The transnational Mediterranean diet has already been part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2013.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared in an acceptance speech that this decision is a historic moment received by her country with great emotion and pride. “Today, UNESCO recognized Italian cuisine as a World Heritage. We are the first in the world to receive this title, which honors our identity and our essence. Because for us Italians, cuisine is not just food or a collection of recipes. It is much more: it is culture, tradition, work, wealth. It stems from agricultural value chains that combine quality and sustainability. It preserves a millennial heritage passed down from generation to generation,” said Meloni. The head of government sees Italian cuisine as Italy’s strongest ambassador and, in this context, also mentioned all Italians living abroad. It is also thanks to them, she added, that Italian cuisine and everything it stands for are so highly valued worldwide.
The Italian wine sector also feels honored by the distinction. After all, wine usually belongs on the table with Italian cuisine, at least in Italy. “For Italian cuisine, inclusion in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage is recognition of its ‘life’s work,’ and it still has many centuries ahead of it. The world of Italian wine is thrilled because it is part of it. On the table, alongside Italian cuisine, stands ‘its’ wine. We certainly share Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s statement: Italian cuisine is also wealth and work. And wine makes a decisive contribution to these aspects—which are not only intangible in nature—with a positive export trade surplus of about €7.5bn per year,” commented Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of the Unione Italiana Vini (UIV), regarding the recognition.
UIV General Secretary Paolo Castelletti also spoke of a “day of great pride.” He stated they are ready “to carry this pride to the whole world, including with a campaign that unites the symbol of Italian know-how in a single body”—apparently indicating a plan to promote cuisine and wine together. VC
Dining and Cooking