Italian cuisine is far more than pizza, pasta and a handful of world-famous classics. It comprises thousands of regional dishes, local ingredients and recipes that are often known only within a few kilometres. Yet who records this knowledge when family recipes disappear, old inns close and regional specialities are increasingly displaced by a homogenised restaurant culture? One of the most important institutions in this field is the Accademia Italiana della Cucina.
It is neither a cookery school nor a professional association for the hospitality trade. The Accademia sees itself, rather, as the cultural memory of Italian cuisine. For more than 70 years it has researched, documented and promoted the culinary traditions of the country, both in Italy and abroad.
Founded around a Milanese dining table
The story of the Accademia fittingly began over a shared meal. On 29 July 1953, the journalist and writer Orio Vergani met with figures from the worlds of culture, industry and journalism at the Hotel Diana in Milan. Vergani was convinced that cuisine was not merely a pleasant pastime. For him, it was an expression of a country's history, way of life and identity.
From this idea grew the Accademia Italiana della Cucina. Its purpose was to preserve the traditions of Italian cuisine and the so-called "Civiltà della Tavola", the culture of eating together and of table fellowship. What began as a small, select circle in Milan soon spread across the whole of Italy. In 2003, the Italian Ministry of Culture officially recognised the Accademia as an "Istituzione Culturale della Repubblica Italiana", a cultural institution of the Italian Republic. This does not make it a government body; the recognition refers to its status as a cultural institution.
More than 7,600 members in Italy and around the world
Today, the Accademia reports that it has 225 delegations and two legations in Italy. A further 70 delegations and 27 legations operate abroad. In total, the network comprises more than 7,600 Accademici . These regional groups organise meetings, carry out historical research, publish works on local food culture and monitor the restaurant landscape. The shared meals, the "riunioni conviviali", play an important role: according to the Accademia, they provide opportunities for exchange among members, and the individual groups also report regularly on the establishments they visit and the menus served there.
The Accademia does not, however, wish to be a museum of fixed recipes. In its own understanding, tradition is not something rigid. It should know its roots, but it may evolve and absorb new influences. This very idea suits Italian cuisine well: many of the dishes regarded today as classics have changed considerably over the generations.
Research, documentation and restaurant assessment
The work of the Accademia extends well beyond shared restaurant visits. Among its most important projects is the Ricettario "La tradizione a tavola" with 3,000 recipes from Italian towns and villages. There are also books on regional cuisines, gastronomic research publications and the magazine "Civiltà della Tavola". Through its free restaurant app , the institution presents a selection of traditionally minded establishments in Italy and abroad. When the app was launched in 2024, the selection comprised around 1,200 restaurants. According to the Accademia, the deciding factors are not luxury or famous names, but authentic cuisine, quality produce, hospitality and a fair price-to-quality ratio.
Particularly noteworthy is the institution's commitment to independence. Membership as an Accademico is granted by co-optation and only after a period of mutual acquaintance. Anyone with a direct professional interest in a restaurant or a cookery school is, under the Accademia's membership rules ineligible to join. This is intended to keep commercial interests separate from cultural and gastronomic assessment.
A dedicated delegation for the Campi Flegrei
The Accademia has a direct presence in Campania and, in particular, in Pozzuoli. Alongside delegations in Naples, Caserta, Benevento, Avellino, Nola, Salerno and on the Sorrento Peninsula, the Legazione "Ischia, Procida e Campi Flegrei" was established in 2022. It was the first Legazione to be founded within Italy. Antonio Lucisano was appointed its first Legato. The delegation's role is to monitor restaurants, maintain contacts with the media and local authorities, and raise the profile of the area's gastronomic identity.
In the Phlegraean Fields in particular, this work is of special significance. According to the City of Pozzuoli", the cuisine of the region brings together flavours from the sea and from agricultural land. Fish and seafood from the Gulf meet vegetables, wine and produce from the volcanic landscape. Many dishes of this cucina flegrea are barely known internationally and are closely tied to individual localities. The Accademia's restaurant database already features establishments from Pozzuoli, Bacoli, Ischia and Procida. The Legazione thus covers precisely the area in which Vivere in Italien will also be focusing its editorial attention in the future.
Italian cuisine as protected cultural heritage
The work of the Accademia has taken on additional significance following the inscription of Italian cuisine on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage . The inscription took place on 10 December 2025 under the official title "Italian cooking, between sustainability and biocultural diversity". In this process, the Accademia was not merely a supporter of the candidacy. According to the organisation, the Italian dossier was prepared jointly with the Fondazione Casa Artusi and the magazine "La Cucina Italiana". President Paolo Petroni and other members of the Accademia served on the scientific committee, which was chaired by historian and honorary member Massimo Montanari. In 2023, the Italian UNESCO Commission approved the proposal put forward by these three institutions; the Italian government subsequently submitted the candidacy officially.
The UNESCO recognition applies not to individual dishes but to a living system of knowledge, craftsmanship, regional diversity, family tradition and shared rituals. It is precisely at this intersection that the Accademia has been working since its founding: it documents not only what is eaten in Italy, but also where dishes originate, how they are passed down, and what significance the shared table holds for society.
Not a club for food enthusiasts alone
From the outside, with its ceremonial gatherings, formal offices and carefully selected membership, the Accademia may at first appear to be an exclusive circle for connoisseurs. Its true significance, however, lies in the many years of work carried out by its regional groups. There, nearly forgotten recipes are reconstructed, local products recognised, historical sources examined, and restaurants observed that preserve traditional cuisine or develop it further in a responsible manner.
In doing so, the Accademia protects something that can easily be lost: the culinary memory of Italy's regions. For Italian cuisine does not live by famous names alone. It lives through the differences between Napoli and Pozzuoli, between Ischia and Procida, between a recipe from Emilia-Romagna and one from Calabria , and through the people who collect, verify and pass this knowledge on to the next generation.
