UNESCO Names Mexican Cuisine to World Heritage List

(Nairobi, Kenya, AN 17 November) Yesterday the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), meeting in Nairobi Kenya, announced that Mexican cuisine, together with French cuisine, have been added to the organization’s list of “Intangible World Heritage” traditions. The purpose of the honor is to foster the preservation of cultures and traditions of world importance. Forty-six nominations were considered by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Preservation of Intangible World Heritage. Specifically, “traditional Mexican cuisine” was one of the nominees, citing “ancestral traditions and cultures still being practiced, within the Michoacán paradigm.” The Mexican gastronomic tradition met criteria for the nomination, as it is “ancient, traditional, continuous through history, symbolic of a national cultural identity, and deserving of recognition and protection.”