Italian cuisine: the way we communicate. Now a UNESCO heritage.
On 10 December 2025, Italian cuisine was officially recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,
confirming the value of our gastronomic tradition as a symbol of conviviality, cultural identity and sustainability, and as a true universal language.
The global importance of Italian culinary traditions comes as no surprise.
What this recognition does, however, is clearly state that cuisine is not just about food, but about a way of being, speaking and communicating.
Cooking, being in the kitchen, and the ingredients themselves have always shaped the Italian language.
This is evident, for example, in geosynonyms: the same dish or ingredient can have different names and recipes from one place to another — sometimes just 10 kilometres apart.
So, does Italian cuisine really exist?
Is there a single definition of Italian cuisine?
And, if so, does an official Italian language exist?
Authoritative voices have long stated that Italian cuisine does not exist as a single, unified entity.
What exists instead are many regional and local cuisines, just as there are many varieties of language.
Recipes, shaped by local ingredients and landscapes, change over short distances and carry with them forms of communication that are just as variable and intangible.
And perhaps it is precisely this intangible heritage that humanity is called upon to protect.
This is why we created a blog dedicated to the words of food and cooking, fully aware of the cultural value they convey.
We want to explore how language has been shaped by dishes and cooking practices — region by region, town by town — and, together with our students, who fall in love with both Italian cuisine and the Italian language, we aim to preserve and protect this heritage over time.
Enjoy the reading — and buon appetito.
#artelinguaexperience #italianlearner #umbria #linguaitaliana #cucinaitaliana #unesco
