Italian cooking, celebrated worldwide, is poised for formal recognition as a cultural treasure by UNESCO after a preliminary assessment cleared the cuisine for inclusion on the agency’s Intangible Cultural Heritage lists. A final decision is expected Wednesday at a UNESCO meeting in India.
The bid, launched in March 2023 by Italy’s agriculture and culture ministries, presents Italian food—from pizza and pasta to risotto and cannoli—as a social ritual that binds families and communities. “There is no single Italian cuisine, but a mosaic of local expressive diversities,” the government said, citing regional specialties such as Lombardy’s ossobuco and Puglia’s orecchiette con cime di rapa as examples of Italy’s biodiversity and culinary creativity.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has championed the effort, calling Italian food a symbol of “culture, identity, tradition and strength.” Industry groups estimate UNESCO recognition could boost tourism by up to 8% within two years, adding about 18 million overnight stays. Italian cuisine also links some 59 million residents with up to 85 million people of Italian descent worldwide.
The Italian food service market reached 251 billion euros ($293 billion) in 2024, about 19% of the global restaurant market, according to Deloitte. Yet imitation products produced abroad are estimated to cost Italy around 120 billion euros annually.
Not everyone supports the UNESCO bid. Italy already has nearly 800 items on UNESCO’s lists, including opera singing and truffle hunting, and some critics see the candidacy as more promotional than protective. Food historian Alberto Grandi called the move “just a marketing operation,” arguing in his 2024 book La cucina italiana non esiste (Italian cuisine doesn’t exist) that many dishes viewed as traditional—such as pasta alla carbonara—are relatively recent creations influenced by foreign cultures. Farmers’ association Coldiretti denounced Grandi’s claims as “surreal attacks on national culinary tradition.”
For restaurateurs like Luigina Pantalone, owner of Rome’s Da Sabatino, UNESCO recognition would be a point of pride and protection for authentic gastronomy. Pantalone recalled childhood days washing dishes with her siblings and noted she is the fourth generation running the restaurant. Three-Michelin-star chef Massimo Bottura described Italian cuisine as “an ancient, daily, sacred ritual – the art of caring and loving without saying a word.”
