Couscous Added to UN’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List

The United Nations added couscous, a dish ascribed to the Berbers, to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

The decision to add the “knowledge, know-how and practices related to the production and consumption of couscous”  to the list,  comes after Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania worked together to submit the joint request to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “This joint inscription of a shared heritage illustrates the extent to which intangible cultural heritage can be a subject on which States meet and cooperate,” UNESCO said in a statement. The decision was approved on Wednesday during the UNESCO annual meeting, which ends on December 19.

The preparation of couscous is ceremonial and involves a tradition that is transmitted orally, through observation and imitation.

The Saudi and Kuwaiti traditional form of weaving, Sadu, also was added to the list.