(11 Dec 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rome, Italy – 10 December 2025
1. Tilt-up from pasta to Paolo Santalucia, Associated Press journalist
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Paolo Santalucia, The Associated Press: ++INCLUDES DIFFERENT ANGLES++
“We Italians love to spend time at the table. We can spend hours eating good food and chatting about life and now the UN has recognized the conviviality of Italian cooking as world cultural heritage. The United Nations Agency for Education, Science and Culture did not mention any specific dishes or recipes, but highlighted the cultural importance Italians place in the rituals of cooking and eating. Our Sunday meals, our grandparents teaching us how to cook a proper tomato sauce like the one I’m preparing right now with the basil that my parents-in-law made, but also the mere act of coming together to share a meal. In the nomination, the Italian committee stressed that eating and cooking is an act of love, a moment to take care of friends and relatives.”
3. Cheese being grated on top of pasta
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Paolo Santalucia, The Associated Press: ++INLCUDES DIFFERENT ANGLES++
“It’s by no means the first time a country’s cuisine has been recognized as a cultural expression. In 2010, UNESCO listed the gastronomic meal of the French as part of the world’s intangible heritage, highlighting the French custom of celebrating important moments with food. Bon appetito.”
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
The U.N.’s cultural agency gave foodies on Wednesday another reason to celebrate their pizza, pasta and tiramisu by listing Italian cooking as part of the world’s “intangible” cultural heritage.
UNESCO added the rituals surrounding Italian food preparation and consumption to its list of the world’s traditional practices and expressions.
It’s a designation celebrated alongside the more well-known UNESCO list of World Heritage sites, on which Italy is well represented with locations like Rome’s Colosseum and the ancient city of Pompeii.
The citation didn’t mention specific dishes, recipes or regional specialties, but highlighted the cultural importance Italians place on the rituals of cooking and eating: the Sunday family lunch, the tradition of grandmothers teaching grandchildren how to fold tortellini dough just so, even the act of coming together to share a meal.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni celebrated the designation, which she said honored Italians and their national identity.
UNESCO meets every year to consider adding new candidates to its lists of “intangible heritage.” There are three types: One is a representative list, another lists practices that are in “urgent” need of safeguarding and the third is a list of good safeguarding practices.
This year, the committee meeting in New Delhi considered 53 nominations for the representative list, which already had 788 items.
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