Unesco: Couscous on Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Paris – Couscous, an emblematic dish of the Maghreb, was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Unesco, during the 15th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the United Nations institution announced on Wednesday.

This event follows a joint application submitted by Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania and Algeria. Entitled “Knowledge, know-how and practices related to the production of couscous”, the Maghreb file was among around forty other applications submitted to the Committee with a view to deciding on their inclusion on the 2020 List.

The application of couscous to be included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Unesco was submitted in March 2019. It is the crowning of several months of work carried out by experts from the four countries who have succeeded in putting together a “solid file” for the inclusion of this culinary speciality of the Maghreb, on the list of intangible cultural heritage of Unesco.