Italian cuisine is now a UNESCO heritage site: not only celebrating Italian food dishes, but a "complex cultural system".  Prime Minister Meloni expresses the feeling of all Italians….’We are proud’.

UNESCO has formalised Italian cuisine as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. The reasons: "It favours social inclusion, promotes well-being and offers a channel for permanent intergenerational learning, strengthening bonds, encouraging sharing and promoting a sense of belonging". A recognition that comes after other specific ones such as, for example, the Art of the Neapolitan pizza maker. This was decided by the Intergovernmental Committee, which met on the 10th December in New Delhi, India. Among those present at the ceremony was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Antonio Tajani for the Meloni Government, already in India to strengthen political and economic relations with the Southeast Asian giant.

In a video message, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: "Today UNESCO recognised Italian Cuisine as a World Heritage Site. We are the first in the world to obtain this recognition, which honours what we are and our identity. Because for us Italians cooking is not just food or a set of recipes. It's much more: it's culture, tradition, work, wealth. Our cuisine comes from agricultural supply chains that combine quality and sustainability. It houses a millennial heritage that is handed down from generation to generation. It grows in the excellence of our producers and becomes a masterpiece in the mastery of our chefs. And it is presented by our restaurateurs with their extraordinary teams. It is a primacy that makes us proud, and gives us a formidable tool to enhance our products even more and protect them more effectively from imitations and unfair competition

The recognition of Italian cuisine as a UNESCO heritage site is "the confirmation of what it represents in the world and will be a flywheel for the entire Italian agri-food sector". So Chicco Cerea, executive chef of the three-star Michelin restaurant ‘Da Vittorio’, Brusaporto, Bergamo, who added: ‘I am lucky enough to be able to travel a lot and cook all over the world: all the times I have brought the products of Italian cuisine I have always received great results and great appreciation. The potential fruits of this result are numerous, "but the ability to actually make them flourish is up to the institutions, from how they will proceed to this beautiful statement and from how they will allow us to convey our products around the world," Cerea underlined. Sometimes we still have difficulties to bring Italian excellences, to have them recognised. Not surprisingly, the risk of Italian sounding is always around the corner: "Our products are among the most counterfeited because they are the most coveted, the best. And we have to be very careful about this

The candidacy not only celebrates a series of famous dishes - pasta, pizza, risottos and many others - but recognises cuisine as a complex cultural system, made of regional traditions, seasonal cycles, agricultural biodiversity, conviviality and sharing. Our cuisine, in short, is considered an "art of living", a social fabric that unites families, communities and territories, bringing with it memory, identity and bonds.