Italian cuisine has been granted special cultural heritage status by the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO.
National favorites, including pizza, are already on UNESCO’s “intangible cultural heritage” list, but now Italian culinary traditions and the way they are practiced and transmitted have been awarded.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has been pushing for recognition of her country’s cuisine since her election, said: “For us Italians, cuisine is not just food or a collection of recipes. It is much more: it is culture, tradition, work, wealth.”
For millions of fans, the news confirms what they already believed: from the Sicilian Cannoli to the Calabrian ‘Nduja: the Italian is the best.
The announcement was made Wednesday during a meeting of the UNESCO assembly in the Indian capital, Delhi.
The cultural agency described Italian cuisine as a “means of connecting with family and community, whether at home, in schools or through festivals, ceremonies and social gatherings.”
Koshary, the spicy lentil, rice and pasta dish available at countless Egyptian food stalls, was also added to the list of intangible cultural heritage.
Other countries have had their “practices, skills, traditions and social practices related to dietary habits” recognized by UNESCO, a spokesperson for the agency told the BBC.
Previous examples include “washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese, particularly for the celebration of the New Year, breakfast culture in Malaysia: a gastronomic experience in a multi-ethnic society, or gastronomic food of the French,” the spokesperson added.
Speaking to La Repubblica, the Rome newspaper, chef Michelangelo Mammoliti said the news filled him with a great sense of pride both personally as an Italian and professionally as a chef.
“Italy is one of the countries where regional cuisine has a very big impact on culture and traditions,” said the chef, whose restaurant La Rei Natura in Piedmont is the only new three-star restaurant in the 2026 Michelin Guide.
Italy’s industry leaders and government ministers hope the move will further boost tourism in the country, which already welcomes 80 million international visitors a year.
Luigi Scordamaglia, general director of Filiera Italia, which represents all food and wine companies in the production chain, told the Ansa news agency that the Unesco step represents a success “for the entire Made in Italy supply chain.”
Scordamaglia also spoke about the role of the Mediterranean diet in promoting good health.
And he adds: “When we talk about the Mediterranean diet, we talk about our wonderful Italian cuisine, which shares its principles, above all those of balance and variety.”
Pool culture in Iceland; the practice of Cuban son and dance; and the art of playing, singing and making the Albanian lahuta also entered UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
