rome
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Time to uncork the prosecco and order a plate of tagliatelle al ragu for the table. Italy has some very delicious reasons to celebrate. Italy’s national cuisine became the first entire gastronomic style recognized by UNESCO, the cultural agency of the United Nations. This position should help protect Italy from imitators.
The decision to designate Italian cuisine as an intangible cultural heritage was confirmed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday, ahead of an expected announcement from UNESCO.
“We are the first in the world to win this award that honors who we are and our identities,” she said in a statement. “Because for us Italians, cooking is more than just food and a collection of recipes. It’s much more than that: it’s culture, tradition, labor and wealth.”
This status marks the successful conclusion of a three-year campaign by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture to gain recognition for the way Italy’s traditional foods are grown, harvested, prepared and served.
“Cooking in Italy has gone beyond a simple nutritional necessity to become a complex and layered daily habit,” Pier Luigi Petrillo, one of the editors of the Italian proposal, wrote in the initial bid.
The move comes as the country continues its fight against “fake” Italian food, including a recent complaint to the European Parliament after prepackaged bottles of carbonara sauce appeared on store shelves. Italy has also opposed the production of fake olive oil and the use of Italian-sounding names for products that are not made in Italy.
Francesco Lollobrigida, the country’s agriculture minister, said UNESCO’s recognition should help protect the dish from such culinary abuses.
“This recognition is a source of pride and recognition that our products, our territory and our supply chain deserve even more value,” Lollobrigida said in a statement. “This will also be an additional tool in the fight against those who seek to exploit the universally recognized values of Made in Italy, and a new opportunity to create jobs and wealth in the region and continue the heritage recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.”
UNESCO heritage status typically confers further prestige on designated entities, from historic buildings to other so-called intangible assets, such as pool swimming in Iceland or beekeeping in Slovenia. It will also place additional responsibilities on countries to protect their cultural treasures.
This often leads to an increase in tourism, but Italy, one of Europe’s most visited destinations, is already overwhelmed with tourists at peak times.
But Meloni said the country would benefit financially from the decision.
“We already export €70 billion of agricultural products and lead the European economy in terms of agricultural value added,” she said. “This recognition will give the Italian economy a decisive boost to new heights.”
Italy’s previous contributions to the list of intangible cultural heritage include the manual ringing of bells (2024), the singing of operas (2023), truffle hunting and mining (2019), the Neapolitan pizza makers (2017) and the festival of large processional structures carried on shoulders (2013). When the Mediterranean diet was added in 2013, Italy was also listed as one of the places to enjoy the Mediterranean diet.
Italy argued in its bid that the country’s “living gastronomic landscape” reflects the country’s biocultural diversity, and that its cuisine adheres to sustainability, seasonality and lean recipes, which enhance Italy’s uniqueness. The proposal also pointed out that traditions passed down from generation to generation within a family create an emotional connection to food.
