Italian cooking has become the first cuisine in history to be awarded UNESCO world heritage status.
Celebrated and famous around the world, the United Nations’ cultural agency formally recognised Italian gastronomy on Wednesday following a lengthy process.
Italy’s agriculture and culture ministries first bid in 2023 for its national cuisine to be awarded world heritage status, explaining that food such as pasta, pizza and risotto form part of a “social ritual that binds families and communities together”.
“The act of cooking in Italy transcends the simple nutritional necessity to become a complex and stratified daily practice,” Pier Luigi Petrillo, one of the editors of Italy’s proposal, wrote in the initial bid.
“There is no single Italian cuisine, but a mosaic of local expressive diversities,” the government proposal added. Dishes such as osso bucco from Lombardy and Puglian orecchiette con cime di rapa were given as examples to showcase Italy’s regional cooking — its diversity, creativity, history and skill.
After UNESCO confirmed Italian cooking would be granted the award — a listing is expected to be published late on December 10 — Italian figures were quick to celebrate the news.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who long championed the effort, called Italian food a symbol of “culture, identity, tradition and strength.”
She added: “We are the first in the world to receive this recognition, which honours who we are and our identity. Because for us Italians, cuisine is not just food or a collection of recipes. It is much more: It is culture, tradition, work, and wealth.”
One of Italy’s most famous chefs, Massimo Bottura, who owns Osteria Francescana in Modena, said: “Italian cuisine is unique in the world. In fact, it’s not just a set of dishes or recipes, but it’s a love ritual, a language made of gestures, perfumes and flavours that hold an entire country together.
“Around a decorated table you recognise Italy: there you share dreams, you quarrel, you make peace, memories are passed on.”
Industry groups estimated UNESCO recognition could boost tourism in Italy by up to eight per cent in the next two years, adding 18 million visitors.
The Italian food service market hit 251 billion euros globally last year, or 19 per cent of the global restaurant market, Deloitte said. Imitation products abroad cost Italy an estimated 120 billion euros annually.
Not everyone in Italy supported the drive. Alberto Grandi, a food historian, called the UNESCO candidacy “just a marketing operation” in a recent interview with the Italian website Mantovauno.
Grandi made headlines in 2023 for his claims that Italy’s most famous dishes, such as pizza, tiramisu and panettone, were only popular only because of Americans. He also suggested Wisconsin’s parmesan is more true to the original recipes than that produced in Italy today.
