Unesco adds Italian cuisine and its rituals to world cultural heritage list

Italy’s culinary traditions have been recognised by the United Nations’ cultural agency as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage

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A dish of Italian spaghetti alla carbonara. Unesco added the rituals surrounding Italian food preparation and consumption to its list of the world’s intangible cultural heritage. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:15am, 12 Dec 2025Updated: 5:14am, 12 Dec 2025

Italian food is known and loved around the world for its fresh ingredients and palate-pleasing tastes.

On December 10, the UN’s cultural agency gave foodies another reason to celebrate their pizza, pasta and tiramisu by listing Italian cooking as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage.

Unesco added the rituals surrounding Italian food preparation and consumption to its list of the world’s traditional practices and expressions. It is a designation celebrated alongside the more well-known Unesco list of World Heritage sites, on which Italy is well represented with locations like Rome’s Colosseum and the ancient city of Pompeii.

The citation did not mention specific dishes, recipes or regional specialities, but highlighted the cultural importance Italians place on the rituals of cooking and eating: the Sunday family lunch, the tradition of grandmothers teaching grandchildren how to fold tortellini dough just so, even the act of coming together to share a meal.

“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 professor of comparative law at Rome’s La Sapienza University.

“This tradition of being at the table, of stopping for a while at lunch, a bit longer at dinner, and even longer for big occasions, it’s not very common around the world,” he said.

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Unesco adds Italian cuisine and its rituals to world cultural heritage list

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Italy’s culinary traditions have been recognised by the United Nations’ cultural agency as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage

Italy’s culinary traditions have been recognised by the United Nations’ cultural agency as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage