From Naples to Venice, the rite of coffee as Unesco candidate
The break to take a coffee marks the lifestyle of the Italians. And it is a convivial rite, the meeting with a cup at the table or at the counter, which often has as its frame historical places such as the Florian in Venice, the Caffè Greco in Rome and the Gambrinus in Naples. And which, right from breakfast, evokes pages of literature and theatrical pieces, from Goldoni to De Filippo. Up to moments of solidarity as is customary in Naples with suspended coffee offered to unknown customers in difficulty.
There is all this in a cup of Italian espresso that today, with a unanimous vote, is a candidate for the current UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage Site by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. With a demanding work of synthesis of the many values of a cornerstone of our lifestyle, Mipaaf has thus nominated for the intangible heritage of humanity by Unesco “The Italian espresso coffee between culture, ritual, sociability and literature in the emblematic communities from Venice to Naples” . “We are very pleased to have arrived at a unified candidacy” commented the undersecretary for agricultural, food and forestry policies with delegation to Unesco. Gian Marco Centinaio.
“In Italy – he underlines – coffee is much more than a simple drink: it is a real ritual, it is an integrated part of our national identity and it is an expression of our sociality that distinguishes us in the world”. Minister Stefano Patuanelli, who opened 2022 by meeting the exhibitors of the historic Trieste brands, was also personally committed to the candidacy. “Today – Hundred announces again – the application for candidacy will be sent to the Italian National Commission for Unesco and we trust that this will approve and transmit it by March 31 in Paris. The cup of espresso is a ritual for all Italians social and cultural relations which are also reflected in literature and which fascinates the country, passing through Rome, Milan and Turin. a good Italian coffee “.
Coldiretti estimates a consumption of 30 million cups a day along the Peninsula in bars, restaurants and public places. Among the many Italian treasures already registered there are, Coldiretti remembers, the Italian art of truffle hunting (2021), the Opera dei pupi (registered in 2008), the Canto a tenore (2008), the Mediterranean diet (2010 ), the Art of the violin in Cremona (2012), the shoulder machines for the procession (2013), the sapling vine of Pantelleria (2014), the art of Falconry (2016), the art of Neapolitan pizza makers ( 2017), the Transhumance (2019) up to the “Art of dry stone walls”.