Italian Cuisine Listed as UNESCO Intangible Heritage

Italian delicacies has been added to UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, changing into the primary nationwide delicacies on the earth to be recognised in its entirety. The determination was taken unanimously by the Intergovernmental Committee assembly in New Delhi, India, on December 10, 2025.

According to UNESCO, Italian cooking represents “a cultural and social mix of culinary traditions” and “a means of taking good care of oneself and others, expressing love and rediscovering cultural roots”. The apply is described as a neighborhood exercise centred on respect for components, anti-waste traditions and shared moments across the desk.

The Italian proposal was amongst 60 dossiers examined this yr from 56 nations. The committee praised how Italian cooking encourages inclusion, strengthens social ties and promotes lifelong studying by means of the transmission of information between generations.

The nomination was coordinated by authorized scholar Pier Luigi Petrillo and supported by key organisations similar to La Cucina Italiana journal, the Accademia Italiana della Cucina and the Fondazione Casa Artusi.

With this inscription, Italy now holds a world document for food-related cultural heritage. Of the nation’s 21 parts on the Intangible Heritage listing, 9 belong to the agri-food sector, together with the artwork of Neapolitan pizzaiuoli, transhumance, dry-stone walling, the cultivation of zibibbo vines in Pantelleria, the Mediterranean weight loss plan, truffle searching, conventional irrigation programs and the breeding of Lipizzaner horses.

Before the inclusion of Italian delicacies as an entire, a number of regional and conventional practices had already been recognised by UNESCO. These embrace the Art of Neapolitan Pizzaiuoli (2017), the Mediterranean Diet (2010), the Transhumance— the seasonal migration of livestock (2019) — and the Cava and Search for Truffles (2021). Together, they replicate how native data and craftsmanship proceed to form Italy’s id and rural financial system.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the choice as “a historic recognition that honours the Italian folks and celebrates our id”. In a video message broadcast through the UNESCO session, she mentioned Italy welcomed the outcome “with nice emotion and pleasure”.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who attended the session in India, mentioned the success was “the results of nice teamwork”. He known as Italian delicacies “a logo of our id, historical past and tradition” and added that it is usually “well being, innovation and a strong driver of development and prosperity”. Tajani famous that Italy’s agri-food exports reached a document €68 billion in 2024, up greater than eight per cent from the earlier yr.

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