Italy recently celebrated the recognition, by the Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO, of Italian cooking , the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Commenting on the decision, Italian Minister Francesco Lollobrigida stated that the title symbolizes “our roots, our creativity, and the ability to transform tradition into universal value.” [1].
Beyond this official celebration, the approach disseminated by most of the media differs from the content of the nomination. Contrary to what has been widely publicized, the recognition does not aim to safeguard ancient dishes or recipes, nor to promote the celebrated… made in Italy.
A careful reading of the dossier approved at the 20th meeting of the Committee reveals another perspective: there are no references to chefs, restaurants or recipes, nor to the consecration of ancient culinary traditions. What is recognized, instead, is a “cuisine of affections,” “insofar as it transmits memory, care, social bonds and identities, telling, through food, the stories of families, rites and gestures.” [2].
It is, therefore, a cultural way of experiencing food, deeply rooted in daily life, social ties, and emotional bonds between people, territories, and food practices experienced as a form of sharing.
It is precisely within this conceptual paradigm that the strength of the candidacy lies. The incorporation of the affective dimension reinforces a cultural and anthropological approach that we observe in studies on the subject.
According to Massimo Montanari, a food historian and one of the originators of the candidacy. [3]Human eating behavior is distinguished not only by cuisine, but above all by commensality, affection, and the social function of meals. In this sense, the candidacy recognizes the cucina degli affetti as a tradition that transforms shared time at the table into social bonds of dialogue and transmission of values, connecting generations, territories and communities, including the Italian diaspora.
This emphasis on emotional connection also distinguishes the Italian candidacy from other culinary awards granted to date. In 2010, France received recognition for… repas gastronomique des français, defined as an organizational social practice of meals, with defined rules, steps, and codes of conduct: the so-called French art of sitting at the table. [4]The Italian candidacy, in turn, breaks with UNESCO’s traditional categories, as it does not describe a specific cuisine or practice, but a plurality of social, cultural, and economic functions.
The comparison with the Mediterranean Diet, established in 2013, also helps to understand the innovative nature of the Italian proposal. The Mediterranean Diet is a transnational heritage that values a dietary model associated with health, sustainability, and certain agricultural and culinary practices common to several countries.
It is, therefore, a food system sustained by commonly used elements, such as olive oil, the consumption of vegetables and grains, and practices of sociability. Italian cookingOn the contrary, it is not a prescriptive or normative model, nor a set of dietary principles. It is a celebration of the relational, symbolic, and affective dimensions of eating, emphasizing food as a mediator of social bonds, memories, and belonging in everyday life.
Thus, while France and the Mediterranean Diet rely on relatively stable and definable models, Italy proposes an open heritage that recognizes not the existence of a “pure” Italian cuisine, but precisely its affective strength as a living and constantly transforming cultural practice.
The core of the dossier — significantly titled “Italian cuisine brings sustainability and bio-cultural diversity”— is the idea that Italian cuisine is a plural, dynamic cultural practice, capable of connecting people, times, landscapes, territories, and ways of living together.”
And this recognition by UNESCO avoids the risk of transforming Italian cuisine into a rigid, exclusionary, or patriotic national symbol, and affirms the opposite path: cuisine as a bridge, not as a border.
While some have celebrated the inscription as a defense of a supposed “true Italian cuisine,” the dossier itself argues that such unity does not exist. The recognition does not certify an Italian gastronomy, but validates a food culture, “a living and contemporary element of Italianness in rituals, conviviality, sustainability, biodiversity and intergenerational transmission of knowledge.” [5].
A Italian cuisineThus, it doesn’t mean a cookbook or an inventory of culinary traditions. It’s the recognition that food in Italy is an affective cultural language, capable of expressing stories, emotional bonds, multiple belongings, and ways of life that transcend time and territory: the recognition of a kitchenNo cooking or recipes needed.
Anita Mattes She holds a doctorate from Université Paris-Saclay, a master’s degree from Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, is a professor of International Law, director of the Brazilian Institute of Cultural Rights (IBDCult), and a specialist in Cultural Rights, Migration and International Family Law, and a lawyer at… Studio Mattes
Notes:
[1] https://www.masaf.gov.it/cucina-italiana-patrimonio-unesco.
[2] https://www.unesco.it/it/news/la-cucina-italiana-iscritta-alla-lista-
rappresentativa-del-patrimonio-culturale-immateriale-unesco; Nomination
file no. 02093, for inscription in 2025 on the Representative List of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
[3] J.-L. FLANDIN and M. MONTANARI, History of Food, Estação
Freedom, 6th edition, 1998, pp. 30-32.
[4] Nomination file no. 00437, for registration in 2010 on the
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: “A
traditional social practice intended to celebrate the most important moments
important events in the lives of individuals and groups, such as births,
Weddings, birthdays, achievements, and reunions. It’s a meal.
festive during which the guests practice, for this occasion, the art
of “eating well” and “drinking well”.
[5] https://www.unesco.it/it/news/comunicato-stampa-consiglio-direttivo-
della-commissione-nazionale-italiana-per-lunesco-23-marzo-2023.
Dining and Cooking