As far as cuisine goes, we all know our basics. Even if you’re a terrible chef yourself and not someone who tends to go to Michelin-starred restaurants, you’re probably aware of the fact that Italian food belongs to the best on Earth – is it even a subjective opinion if it’s shared by millions of others? Not sure. Pizza, pasta, tiramisu, ragù… The list of delicious Italian recipes is pretty much endless, as every region, every town even comes with its own. Such a varied cuisine has to be preserved for future generations and the Italian government will therefore be seeking to put Italian cuisine on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage for 2023.
The proposal for the candidature came from from the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Francesco Lollobrigida and the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano. They then asked Rome LUISS private University Professor Pier Luigi Petrillo to write a report on Italian cuisine, which will now be handed over to UNESCO and is estimated to be evaluated by 2025 at the latest.
We have two years ahead of us in which we will have to promote our food in Italy and in the world, we hope it will see collective participation.
Gianmarco Mazzi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture
Italian cuisine is about conviviality. The rituals and traditions linked to the typical recipes are so unique that this year it has been nominated a UNESCO intangible heritage.
— Italia.it (@Italia) March 28, 2023
📷 IG famiglia_baldassarre#LiveItalian #ilikeitaly #EatIT #food #cucinaitaliana #italiancuisine pic.twitter.com/NoiL5NEsGB
The report
Of course, the report written by Petrillo puts forward a number of reasons why Italian cuisine should be on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage from now on. The emphasis on it being an indispensable part of the country’s heritage and culture is clear.
The Italian cuisine is a combination of social practices, rituals and gestures based on the many local flavours that, without hierarchy, identify it and mark it out.
Report on Italian cuisine written by Professor Pier Luigi Petrillo, Rome LUISS University
“This mosaic of traditions reflects the country’s biocultural diversity and is based on the common denominator of conceiving the moment of preparation and consumption of the meal as an occasion for sharing and talking”, reads the report.
With the report, Pier Luigi Petrillo is not up to his test piece. In the past, the professor also wrote the bids for multiple elements of the Mediterranean diet as well as Neapolitan pizzaiuoli pizza makers. Italy in its turn has put forward many bids to the list of intangible cultural heritage before, amongst which feature truffle hunting and extraction, the transhumance and the art of dry stone walling.
