Is the espresso coffee ritual an Italian or a Neapolitan tradition? That is the question at the center of a debate that sees two different candidates fight for international recognition of their contributions to world coffee heritage.

Here is the debated issue: Italy is seeking world heritage status for its coffee culture from Unesco; in particular, it seeks inclusion in Unesco’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which, as far as Italy is concerned, includes the recent addition of the ‘Art of Neapolitan Pizzaioulo,’ the ‘Mediterranean diet,’ and traditions such as dry stone walling, transhumance and big shoulder-borne processional structures.