Italy: pizza is included into UNESCO heritage list

Pizza. Hardly any other product could glorify Italy more. It is assumed that classic pizza can be found only in Italy, in Naples. In order to preserve the unique recipes, the Italians decided to immortalize their national culinary marvel at the international level.Italy started to collect votes to file an application for inclusion of Neapolitan pizza in the list of "intangible" heritage. If UNESCO will decide positively pizza will be the second culinary monument of Italy after "Mediterranean diet", which was included into the Heritage List earlier.

Apart from pizza Italy offered to add to the list of intangible heritage a number of other equally significant events and crafts, among which are famous horse races in Siena or the violin crafts in the city of Cremona.

It is important to note that before starting to collect votes to include pizza in the list of intangible heritage by UNESCO, the Italians have conducted a survey in order to identify the most worthy dishes for such a high title. As a result, the pizza with a minimum margin beat spaghetti with tomato sauce. Italians called pizza the quintessence of the nation.

Pizza appeared in Italy, Naples, in the early 18th century. In 1889 pizza with cheese, tomato and basil was proposed as a treat to the queen Margaret of Savoy, in whose honor was named today one of the most popular types of pizza.

In the Naples pizza is a traditional dish. Pizza makers insist that three ingredients mentioned above are everything you need for the best pizza in the world.

Inclusion of pizza in the World Heritage List is being actively lobbied by Italian farmers. More than half of the current "Margarets" are manufactured using foreign ingredients: Chinese tomatoes and Spanish olive oil. Protecting of the recipes at UNESCO level will allow using in pizza making only local products.