This paper will focus on the potentials and pitfalls of safeguarding culinary practices as intangible cultural heritage. More specifically, by looking at examples around food heritage in Latin America, this paper will look at how different regimes about food security, biodiversity, intellectual property rights, indigenous rights and cultural heritage overlap on one fairly discreet manifestation of heritage. The main focus of the paper is Traditional Mexican Cuisine, on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2010, which, according to UNESCO, "is a comprehensive cultural model comprising farming, ritual practices, age-old skills, culinary techniques and ancestral community customs and manners. It is made possible by collective participation in the entire traditional food chain: from planting and harvesting to cooking and eating." Through a close reading of the nomination files, this paper will investigate the role of indigenous identity in the process, and whether consideration has been given to other overlapping regimes, as commanded by Article 3 of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). The paper will discuss the bright and dark sides of using heritage listing as a converging point for global governance in this field, particularly from the perspective of indigenous communities.