Grimaldi Lines supports the candidacy of Italian cuisine as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Our culinary tradition is art, culture, and history, a heritage that deserves to be protected and celebrated.

In our onboard restaurants, we bring the best of our country’s cuisine to the table, on a journey through flavor, tradition, and Italianness.

On March 23, 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry and the Ministry of Culture launched the candidacy of Italian cuisine for the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Italian cuisine is more than just food or a simple recipe book; it is also a set of social practices, habits, and gestures that lead to the consideration of meal preparation and consumption as a moment of sharing and encounter. It is the collective ritual of a people who conceive of food as a cultural element of identity.

In Italy, cooking is a way of caring for family and friends (when cooking at home) or for diners (when cooking at a restaurant). It is a mosaic of diverse local skills, an expression of creativity and knowledge that becomes tradition and is passed down through the generations. It is also a form of biodiversity protection, based on zero waste, the reuse of leftover food, and seasonal products from various regions. Italian cuisine is part of our history and a heritage for the 60 million Italians living in the country, for the 80 million Italians and their descendants living abroad, and for the many foreigners who love and draw inspiration from the Italian way of life.

Three communities are promoting the candidacy “Italian Cuisine between Sustainability and Biocultural Diversity”:

– the Italian Academy of Cuisine, a cultural institution of the Republic, founded in 1953 by Orio Vergani, which boasts over 80 branches abroad, 220 in Italy, and more than 7,500 associated academics;

– the Casa Artusi Foundation, founded in 2007 with the aim of promoting “Italian home cooking” as defined by Pellegrino Artusi since the second half of the 19th century.

– La Cucina Italiana, founded in 1929, is the oldest food magazine in the world still on newsstands.

The process and the nomination dossier were institutionally coordinated by Service II – UNESCO Office of the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forests and with the support of a Technical-Scientific Committee of experts.

Italian cuisine, as an intangible cultural heritage, represents a cultural and social fusion of eating habits, a creative use of raw materials, and artisanal forms of processing that have become both a socio-cultural model and a tradition. This tradition is also characterized by having been influenced, for centuries and still today, by different cultures that have enriched the practice by introducing new ingredients, new uses, or new linguistic expressions.

The official logo, designed by students of the Medal School of the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, depicts the hand of a chef stirring various elements of Italian cuisine alongside monuments, regional symbols, and cultural figures, creating a dynamic path like the hair of an evocative comet. The slogan is “I love Italian cuisine,” with the two “o”s in the shape of a tricolor heart.

The candidacy has already been presented in Venice, New York, Madrid, London, Barcelona, Vigo, Doha, Chicago, Hanoi, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Brussels, Athens, Washington, EXPO Osaka, Chicago, Las Vegas, Alexandria, South Africa, Malta, Monaco, Cologne, Houston, the AXIOM 3 space mission, which allowed the candidacy logo to be carried into space with Italian pilot Walter Villadei, and many other cities during the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World.

A partnership has been developed with the Amerigo Vespucci ship for the Veliero World and Mediterranean Tour, an opportunity to showcase Italian cuisine’s candidacy for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status around the world and promote the excellence of Italian food.

Furthermore, the Italian Men’s and Women’s Volleyball Team, the Italian National Rugby Team, the Italian International Tennis Team, the Italian National Rugby Team, the Italian Swimming Federation, the Italian National Football Team, and the Giro d’Italia have been involved as Ambassadors of Italian food and wine culture.

This too is a way to showcase the culinary tradition, the country’s excellent products, and its biodiversity. Linking Italian cuisine to sport is essential for a healthy and balanced diet.

Presenting this candidacy means explaining to the world what lies behind our products and our transformations: history, culture, biodiversity, environment, and well-being.