Italian cuisine has been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
According to Reuters on the 10th (local time), UNESCO made the decision at the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in New Delhi, India, that day.
Representatives from 185 countries attended the meeting. However, voting rights for new inscriptions on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list were granted to only 24 countries, including France, Germany and China.
UNESCO designates and protects the knowledge, skills, culture and arts that communities or groups have created on their own through interactions with the environment, history and nature as intangible cultural heritage.
Earlier, the Italian government had pushed since March to have its national cuisine inscribed as a World Heritage. The Italian agriculture and culture ministries emphasized the cultural value of the country's cuisine, defining Italian food culture as "a social ritual that bonds family and community." They also promoted Italian cuisine as "a mosaic made up of regional diversity."
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also added her support, saying, "Italian food is a symbol of culture, identity, tradition and strength."
According to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), Italy's dining-out market reached €251 billion (about 429 trillion won) last year. That accounts for 19% of the global dining-out market.
Thus far, Italy's standalone inscriptions on UNESCO's lists include truffle hunting (2021), Sicilian puppet theater and the pastoral songs of Sardinia (2008), the Mediterranean diet (2010), traditional violin craftsmanship of Cremona (2012), Catholic festivals in which massive structures are carried on the shoulders and paraded (2013), and the art of Neapolitan pizza making (2017).
Meanwhile, Egypt's traditional dish "Koshari" was also inscribed as intangible cultural heritage alongside Italian cuisine that day. Koshari is a traditional food that mixes rice, chickpeas and onions with tomato sauce. It is commonly enjoyed by working-class Egyptians.
In addition, the Hindu traditional festival "Diwali" and Iceland's swimming pool culture were also included on the new inscription list.