Italian cooking — cherished worldwide for its simplicity, seasonality and unmistakable flavours — has received a new form of international recognition. UNESCO has officially added the rituals surrounding Italian food preparation and mealtimes to its list of intangible cultural heritage, acknowledging the deep cultural and social meaning Italians attach to cooking and gathering around the table.
Unlike UNESCO’s more familiar World Heritage Sites list, which includes landmarks such as the Colosseum and Pompeii, the intangible category recognises living traditions and practices. In this case, the designation focuses not on specific dishes, but on the rituals that shape Italian culinary culture: the unhurried Sunday lunch, the family table that anchors daily life, and the intergenerational act of teaching children how to roll, fold or pinch pasta dough.
“Cooking is a gesture of love, a way in which we tell something about ourselves to others and how we take care of others,” said Pier Luigi Petrillo, a member of the Italian UNESCO campaign and a professor of comparative law at La Sapienza University in Rome. He emphasised that taking time to eat together — whether pausing at lunch or lingering even longer at dinner — is a habit less common elsewhere, yet central to Italian identity.
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the recognition, framing cuisine not simply as nourishment but as a cultural touchstone. She described it as “culture, tradition, work, wealth”, reflecting the country’s pride in its culinary heritage.
Italian food is not the first to be recognised by UNESCO; the “gastronomic meal of the French” was added in 2010, and other culinary traditions — from Asturian cider culture to Senegal’s Ceebu Jen — have appeared on the list in recent years. UNESCO’s intangible heritage committee, meeting in New Delhi this year, evaluated 53 nominations for the representative list, ranging from Swiss yodelling to Chile’s family circuses and Bangladesh’s Tangail saree weaving.
Italy’s submission highlighted sustainability and diversity as key aspects of its culinary identity. The campaign stressed how Italian cooking values local produce, seasonal ingredients and minimal waste, while also reflecting centuries of regional variation shaped by migration, geography and history.
For many Italians, these rituals are deeply personal. Pasta maker Francesco Lenzi, from Rome’s Osteria da Fortunata, credited his love for cooking to his grandmother, “the queen of this big house by the sea” in Camogli. He recalls Sunday mornings filled with the sound of a rolling pin shaping ravioli — a memory that stayed with him long after he left home. “There are people who say spaghetti comes from China,” he said. “Okay, fine, but here we have turned noodles into a global phenomenon.”
Visitors also recognise the emotional resonance behind Italian mealtimes. “Sitting at the table with family or friends is something that we Italians cherish,” said tourist Mirella Pozzoli, noting its role in creating a sense of community unique to Italian culture.
Italy already has thirteen other practices on UNESCO’s intangible list, including Sicilian puppet theatre and violin craftsmanship from Cremona. It has also appeared in two food-related listings: the 2013 recognition of the Mediterranean diet and the 2017 designation honouring Naples’ pizza makers — a moment that, according to Petrillo, significantly boosted training schools and tourism.
With its latest addition, Italy’s culinary heritage has been formally acknowledged as a living, evolving expression of culture — one preserved not through monuments, but through homes, kitchens and shared tables.
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