`Italy’s National Cuisine Inscribed on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List - Olive Oil Times
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Italy’s National Cuisine Inscribed on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List

By Ylenia Granitto
Dec. 15, 2025 16:04 UTC
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Italy’s national cui­sine has been added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List dur­ing a com­mit­tee ses­sion in New Delhi, India, with the des­ig­na­tion cel­e­brated by pro­fes­sion­als and enthu­si­asts. The dossier sup­port­ing the can­di­dacy high­lighted the cul­tural sig­nif­i­cance of Italian cui­sine as a vehi­cle for trans­mit­ting knowl­edge, mem­o­ries, and emo­tions across gen­er­a­tions and cul­tures.

Italy’s national cui­sine has been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.

The des­ig­na­tion was con­ferred dur­ing the 20th com­mit­tee ses­sion, held in New Delhi, India, from December 8 to 13.

This inclu­sive, dynamic cui­sine becomes an exam­ple of dia­logue between cul­tures and a bridge between peo­ples.- Pier Luigi Petrillo, co-cura­tor of the dossier on Italian cook­ing

In Italy, the announce­ment was wel­comed with enthu­si­asm by food indus­try pro­fes­sion­als, culi­nary enthu­si­asts and insti­tu­tions.

“This recog­ni­tion con­firms what we have always believed: Italian cui­sine is more than just food. It is cul­ture, a her­itage of iden­tity, com­mu­nity and a liv­ing mosaic of tra­di­tions handed down from gen­er­a­tion to gen­er­a­tion,” said Maddalena Fossati Dondero, direc­tor of La Cucina Italiana mag­a­zine and pres­i­dent of the candidacy’s pro­mot­ing com­mit­tee. ​“We are proud to have helped achieve this his­toric mile­stone and will con­tinue to sup­port the preser­va­tion and pro­mo­tion of Italian gas­tro­nomic cul­ture.”

The can­di­dacy was jointly sup­ported by Italy’s Ministries of Agriculture and Culture and pro­moted by a group of orga­ni­za­tions, includ­ing La Cucina Italiana, the Casa Artusi foun­da­tion and the Accademia Italiana della Cucina.

Together, they drafted and sub­mit­ted the dossier titled ​“Italian cook­ing, between sus­tain­abil­ity and bio­cul­tural diver­sity.”

“Italian cui­sine is a liv­ing her­itage, passed down every day in homes, regions and com­mu­ni­ties,” Andrea Segrè, pres­i­dent of Casa Artusi, told Olive Oil Times. ​“The task now is to enhance it with­out dis­tort­ing it, safe­guard­ing its authen­tic­ity and cul­tural bio­di­ver­sity, as Pellegrino Artusi taught us.”

According to the dossier, Italian cui­sine is a daily prac­tice shaped by shared knowl­edge, rit­u­als and ges­tures that have gen­er­ated a rich cul­tural and social blend of culi­nary habits, cre­ative use of raw mate­ri­als and arti­sanal prepa­ra­tion meth­ods.

This blend has devel­oped into a com­mon tra­di­tion and a socio-cul­tural iden­tity model char­ac­ter­ized by liv­ing gas­tro­nomic land­scapes that reflect and enhance the bio­cul­tural diver­sity of Italy’s ter­ri­to­ries.

People of dif­fer­ent cul­tures have long influ­enced Italian cook­ing, each con­tribut­ing prepa­ra­tion tech­niques, ingre­di­ents, uten­sils and lin­guis­tic expres­sions.

“With this recog­ni­tion, UNESCO defines our cui­sine as the fruit of diverse influ­ences, a melt­ing pot of knowl­edge and habits,” said jurist Pier Luigi Petrillo, who co-curated the dossier with Massimo Montanari, coor­di­na­tor of Casa Artusi’s sci­en­tific com­mit­tee. ​“This inclu­sive, dynamic cui­sine becomes an exam­ple of dia­logue between cul­tures and a bridge between peo­ples.”

The dossier also high­lights the col­lec­tive and par­tic­i­pa­tory nature of Italian cook­ing, describ­ing it as a vehi­cle for trans­mit­ting know-how, mem­o­ries and emo­tions that con­nect gen­er­a­tions and cross bor­ders.

Shared meals, the doc­u­ment con­tin­ues, form a uni­fy­ing rela­tional sys­tem that turns time at the table into an oppor­tu­nity for dia­logue, emo­tional expres­sion and mutual care.

Italian cook­ing also safe­guards lin­guis­tic and ges­tural cul­tural expres­sions. Many tra­di­tional recipes are rooted in anti-waste prac­tices and rely on sus­tain­able ingre­di­ents.

“UNESCO rec­og­nized the rep­re­sen­ta­tive­ness of Italian cui­sine as a vehi­cle of cul­ture,” the agency said in a state­ment. ​“It is a body of knowl­edge that is culi­nary, con­vivial and social, passed down from gen­er­a­tion to gen­er­a­tion.”

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The orig­i­nal pro­posal dates back to 2018. A pro­mot­ing group was formed in 2020 and, with sci­en­tific sup­port, drafted the dossier.

More than 20 cul­tural asso­ci­a­tions sup­ported the nom­i­na­tion. A draft was shared online, allow­ing pub­lic con­tri­bu­tions through an open and trans­par­ent process.

During its New Delhi meet­ing, the com­mit­tee exam­ined 67 nom­i­na­tions sub­mit­ted by 77 coun­tries.

Food tra­di­tions already on the list include the French fes­tive meal, Mexican cui­sine, Korea’s Kimjang and Japan’s Washoku.

Italy is the first coun­try to have its national cui­sine rec­og­nized in its entirety.

The coun­try now counts 20 ele­ments on the list, includ­ing Pantelleria’s vite ad alberello, the art of the Neapolitan piz­za­iuolo, truf­fle hunt­ing and shared tra­di­tions such as the Mediterranean diet.

Italian cui­sine remains a global eco­nomic leader, reach­ing €251 bil­lion in 2024, accord­ing to the Deloitte report.

It accounts for 19 per­cent of the global full-ser­vice restau­rant mar­ket, with the United States and China rep­re­sent­ing more than 65 per­cent of world­wide con­sump­tion.

“The recog­ni­tion also hon­ors the farm­ers who make pri­mary pro­duc­tion pos­si­ble,” Confagricoltura pres­i­dent Massimiliano Giansanti told Olive Oil Times.

Extra vir­gin olive oil is among the foun­da­tional raw mate­ri­als of Italian cui­sine, par­tic­u­larly in cen­tral and south­ern regions.

The dossier also notes unwrit­ten codes of hos­pi­tal­ity, in which shared meals with­out time lim­its strengthen social bonds.

At its core, Italian cook­ing is about care for oth­ers, expressed through the sim­ple ques­tion: ​“What can I cook for you?”

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