What does French Pasta, Turkish Coffee (and its tradition), Mexican Michoacan, Korean Khimjang and Japanese Washoku have in common?

Aside from being one of the key components of their respective country’s cuisine, these cultural driven traditional food items (and cooking style) are a part of the UNESCO Intangible Heritage Tag list. Thereby making them UNESCO protected and promoted sites of the food world that are now reason enough to visit the land.

Interestingly, these are only a handful of over 150-odd cultural activities that the arm of UNESCO has chosen since its first list of such ‘intangible’ culture assets made its appearance in 2008.

Since then, this cultural arm of UNESCO has attracted many nations to bring out their innate cultural asset to be assessed by the team for its valid ancestry including Peru, whose annual mammoth food festival, Mistura, is a part of the country’s effort at getting the Heritage tag.



Also aiming for the tag is China which is now preparing its application for the family cuisine of ancient philosopher Confucius (551-479 B.C.) to be enlisted as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, much like Italy that wants its Neapolitan Pizza to get the tag. And in the coming year the list has gems like the Armenian Lavaash, Georgian traditional Qvevri wine-making method,Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrand, end-of-winter bread and fire feast at Geraardsbergen and the Mediterranean Diet. As the list suggests,the festival is likely to go big.

Which makes us wonder: What is the heritage tag? Who is eligible to get it? And more pertinently, why India – which already has 10 cultural activities including the Traditional Vedic Chanting, Ramlila, Chauu Dance and the Mudiyettu (Kerala Dance Drama) in its list – doesn’t have even one of the culinary branches?

What adds to the curiosity is that Indian cuisine though has had many influences is also considered among the oldest culinary science in the world.

A heritage tag is a recognition that the particular dish, dance, ritual holds the key to the civilization, and has played an important role in shaping the society as it is today. Contrary to believe however the tag has nothing to do with a country’s cuisine — nothing to do with the variety of dishes and cooking techniques — instead it associated with the cultural tradition of eating and drinking.

Take the case of Kimjang for instance. It is a ritual of making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea, and is a part of getting the society together to eat and drink. Likewise for Lavaash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia; and the Washoku, which is Japan’s traditional cooking embraces seasonal ingredients, a unique taste and a style of eating steeped in centuries of tradition.