« Go back Italian cuisine nominated for UNESCO Heritage List
Exactly six years have passed since the Art of Pizzaiuolo Napoletano became part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity - Unesco List, official recognition of the value of the heritage of the unique artisan knowledge that goes into the 'savoir-faire' of pizza-making, a combination of experience, manual dexterity, dedication, flair, love and imagination.
In Naples, took place the meeting to celebrate the important anniversary, that was also a good opportunity to recall and retrace the stages of the historic international #pizzaUnesco signature collection for the Italian candidacy. Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, now president of the UniVerde Foundation, said: “Pizza is one of the best-known Italian words in the world, and has never been translated into any other language; it was necessary to protect it to avoid the risk of losing its identity due to excessive globalisation. From the very beginning, it was very important to make it clear that it was not necessary to be Neapolitan to make pizza, but it was necessary to share a peculiar craftsmanship. Even though it is the most popular product in the world, even today each pizza is handmade, individually, as tradition dictates”.
The path is continuing with initiatives, cultural events, tastings, meetings, and is moving towards another necessary goal: supporting the candidacy of Italian cuisine between sustainability and biocultural diversity, through the new global campaign #CucinaItalianaUnesco, which tells the story of Italy and wants to protect and hand down traditions, habits and that unique gesture that, from recipes and the preparation of a meal, culminates in conviviality and the sharing of food. Maddalena Fossati Dondero, the first promoter of the Unesco nomination of Italian cuisine, said: "The recognition of Italian cuisine must be strongly supported as a system because it is an important 'umbrella' recognition", Pecoraro Scanio continued, "as it brings together the entire national agri-food heritage, the many excellences of our country, even those that alone would struggle to find a voice. Which in the end is what people also do, because those who love pasta also love a good risotto and those who eat panettone also appreciate the Sicilian cassata or the Neapolitan baba".
During the meeting, the message of the #NoFakeFood campaign was also relaunched, implemented by Fondazione UniVerde, Opera2030 and SOS Terra Onlus, to defend Italian agri-food products from agro-piracy, counterfeiting and Italian sounding.
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