Italian Cuisine's UNESCO Journey

The Mediterranean Archaeological Tourism Exchange inaugurates the first day of its XXVII edition, on Thursday, October 30, with a Conference supporting the candidacy of Italian Cuisine for UNESCO, about a month before the outcome of the evaluation will be made public, on December 10 in New Delhi, India. Since its early editions, the Bmta has been the venue for developing content and processes for the future recognition of intangible heritage: on the occasion of the fifth edition, on November 9, 2002, the working group composed of UNESCO, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, the General Directorates of Cultural Heritage of Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, the Province of Salerno, Federculture, Assafrica & Mediterranean of Confindustria met for the preparation of the document called ‘Paestum Charter for the integrated management of tangible and intangible heritage’ in the presence of the UNESCO Deputy Director-General for Culture, Mounir Bouchenaki, now honorary president of the Bmta; then in 2003, under Bouchenaki’s own initiative, the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage was adopted during the 32nd Session of the UNESCO General Conference, ratified by Italy in 2007, which established the procedures for the identification, documentation, preservation, protection, promotion, and enhancement of intangible cultural heritage. Holding an initiative dedicated to the candidacy of Italian Cuisine at the Bmta in Paestum (Capaccio Paestum, the municipality hosting the event for 27 editions is the ‘gateway to Cilento’, of that extensive naturalistic and scenic area inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998 with the archaeological areas of Paestum and Velia), a few kilometers from where the Mediterranean Diet was born, finds validation in the statement of the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida: ‘Our culinary tradition is not just a collection of recipes, experiences, practices, and contaminations, but it is the heart of the Mediterranean Diet, characterized by excellent food products, healthy foods, variety, and biodiversity.’ In this regard, the Cilento National Park, Vallo di Diano and Alburni, and the Sele Plain are examples of the territory’s biodiversity and the sustainability of DOP/IGP productions (buffalo mozzarella, artichoke, arugula, cauliflower, oil, wine). Furthermore, the association between archaeology and gastronomy was strengthened by the will of the Minister of Agriculture to present, together with the Minister of Culture, the logo of the Italian Cuisine candidacy as Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO right in a major archaeological attraction, the Pompeii Park (August 4, 2023), where mosaics and the narration of daily life in antiquity make the kitchen a protagonist in everyday life. The ancient Roman gastronomy and their dishes, in representing the local identity of the territories (garum, spelt, porchetta, oil, wine) are the basis of ‘Italian Cuisine’. Furthermore, the initiative supporting the candidacy on Sunday, September 21 ‘The Sunday Lunch – Italians at the Table’, promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests, Ministry of Culture and Anci, saw the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Culture and Agriculture at the table with the Colosseum backdrop live on television, along with 10 leading cities and dozens of other municipalities with collective tables, events, and territorial promotion activities in the squares. For Campania, Naples led with four municipalities participating in the initiative: Gragnano, Monte di Procida, Portici, Pollica. The Conference on Thursday, October 30 at 6 p.m. will feature Pier Luigi Petrillo, who worked on the candidacy dossier titled ‘Italian Cooking between sustainability and biocultural diversity’, the Italian Ambassador to UNESCO Liborio Stellino, who officially presented it to the head of the Intangible Heritage List on March 23, 2023, the National President of the Chambers of Commerce Andrea Prete, the past president of Federalimentare and new president of the Italian Touring Club Gian Domenico Auricchio, the commander of the Carabinieri’s Forestry, Environmental and Agri-food Units Command Fabrizio Parrulli. The meeting will be moderated by Maddalena Fossati, director of ‘La Cucina Italiana’, the oldest gastronomic magazine in the world, founded in 1929, still in print, which is one of the three communities promoting the candidacy.