Heritage on a Plate

French have a tendency to talk endlessly about their food

The French dining ritual has been added to Unesco's list of 'intangible heritage of humanity'. The list of 213 cultural traditions from around the world also includes Chinese acupuncture, the Peking Opera and Colombian music.

Reporter:
Christian Fraser
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France's submission, which sits alongside Croatian gingerbread and the Azerbaijani carpet, centres mostly around the ritual itself - how wines are paired with dishes, how the table is dressed, the precise placing of glasses for water and wine, knife blade pointing in, fork curved towards the dish, all time-honoured rituals.
One jury member said there was no major reason why France should be rejected, not even President Sarkozy's untimely assertion that when it comes to cooking the French are the best in the world, a statement that enraged the Italians and Spaniards with whom Greece and Mexico are bidding jointly for the honour of Mediterranean diet.
There are no specific French dishes or ingredients in this entry. It centres largely on the fact the French have a tendency to talk endlessly about their food.