For the first time in its history, UNESCO awarded a country's cuisine the status of intangible cultural heritage.

Since 2003, the Intergovernmental Committee of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has met annually to evaluate and decide on nominations presented by the State Parties to include, in line with the purview of art.2 of the Convention, on the inscription of “practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage” in the Representative List.

Italy, as a state party, submitted the nomination on Italian cooking during the 20th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee currently held in New Delhi (December 8-13, 2025). The candidature was supported by various stakeholders, including local institutions, culinary associations, farmers, chefs, and thousands of citizens. It highlighted two defining features of its national cuisine: Sustainability & biocultural diversity.

This inscription awards the distinctive characteristics of Italian culinary traditions, which embody identity, community values, and sustainable practices.

This recognition, according to Al Jazeera,  could boost Italy's global prestige and attract more cultural and culinary tourism. This prize will contribute to combating fraud, in particular the phenomenon of counterfeit Italian food, which exploits the "Made in Italy" brand, as stated by CNN, which also mentioned that this prize is expected to create new jobs and wealth in Italian regions by promoting quality products, territories, and supply chains.

At The American University of Rome, food culture is addressed in undergraduate and graduate courses that examine sustainability, cultural identity, and Italian society. The AUR Library supports this work by providing access to interdisciplinary and specialized databases, such as Food Science Source, and a growing collection of print and audiovisual materials on food studies, Italian and Mediterranean culinary traditions, which are frequently used for coursework and independent research.