Italian Cuisine’s UNESCO Intangible Heritage candidacy procedure is under way

The organisations proposing the candidature of Italian Cuisine for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status recently met in Rome, convening in the Ministry of Culture’s reception hall. The Italian Academy of Cuisine was represented by Secretary-General Roberto Ariani. Also present were the parliamentarian Gianmarco Mazzi, Undersecretary of State to the Ministry of Culture; a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture; and experts and technicians to draft the proposal. 
The meeting established a roadmap leading to an appointment at the UNESCO office in Paris to submit the “Candidature Proposal for the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List” for “Italian cuisine, between sustainability and biocultural diversity”. 
One of the proposal’s core principles is ‘The transmission of knowledge’, which must emphasise continuity with what is defined as ‘grandmother’s cooking’ and must clarify what distinguishes Italian cuisine from the more generic ‘Mediterranean Diet’.