The Meloni government is nominating Italian cuisine as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for 2023. The executive in office has decided, on the proposal of the ministers of Agriculture and food sovereignty Francesco Lollobrigida and of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, to nominate, for the current year, the practice of Italian cuisine in the representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco.
Italian cuisine
The National Commission gave a unanimous favorable opinion, in the presence of the Undersecretary for Culture Gianmarco Mazzi. The dossier will be forwarded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Unesco and the evaluation process will begin, which should end in December 2025 at the latest. Italian cuisine is defined as a set of social practices, rituals and gestures based on the many local knowledge that, without hierarchies, identify and characterize it.
This patchwork of traditions reflects the biocultural diversity of the country. It is based on the common denominator of conceiving the moment of preparation and consumption of each dish as an opportunity for sharing and comparison. The dossier was written by the Luiss professor, Pier Luigi Petrillo, who in the past had already handled the candidacies for UNESCO of many elements such as la Mediterranean Diet and Neapolitan pizza makers.
“Without taking anything away from Mexican, French, Japanese and Korean cuisines, I believe that Italian cuisine is unrivaled. And that it may have been a problem that so far we haven't had the strength and ability to promote its complexity". So the minister Lollobrigida who added: "Complexity made up of a system of values that have been consolidating in our nation over time". Gianmarco Mazzi, undersecretary of the Mic with a proxy to Unesco he reiterated: “With this candidacy we are starting a game that sees 140 million Italians take the field. The 60 million who live in Italy but also the 80 million who live abroad. And also all the foreigners who love our food”.
(Photo archive italiani.it)
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