Italian cuisine with its simple ingredients, enticing aromas, and fabulous flavors is one of the most delicious food on the planet. And it is here in Venice, where I’ll begin my gastronomic tour of Italian food.
Polenta
A staple in Northern Italy, polenta enjoys its greatest popularity among Venetians! Originally known as part of ‘cucina povera’ (food of the poor), polenta is interestingly now considered to be a gourmet, upscale food! Ah, that creamy, golden pool of ground semolina cornmeal that results from 30 to 45 minutes of constant stirring with a ‘mescala’, wooden stirring stick! Venetians prefer polenta over pasta (although they do have pasta dishes).
Growing up, my mother prepared risotto for our family at least twice a week and it was always one of our favorite meals! Mix it with Bolognese sauce and it’s an incredible, filling meal in itself!
Bigoli
This is the Venetians’ contribution to the pasta of Italy. It is similar to spaghetti pasta noodles, except slightly thicker with a small hole in the middle. Bigoli is also slightly darker than regular pasta because it is made of whole wheat flour.
Carpaccio
A famous treat created at Harry’s Bar in Venice, and known here in the States, consists of raw/ultra-rare beef from the filet cut, sliced wafer-thin, coated with peppercorns or capers and served with Parmesan cheese and radicchio. Often a sauce is served prepared with mayonnaise, mustard, cream, and tomato. Many variations of the dish have evolved from the original recipe as well.
Trust me, I WILL end up here during our time in Venice! I’ve just got to try one of these authentic, famous Bellini!
Cicchetti
Similar to Spanish tapas, these are small portions of food that are served in Venetian bars. Traditionally, Venetians eat cichetti (“have some fun”) with a small glass of wine (ombre) either before lunch or dinner or often in place of those meals. Eating cichetti is mostly a social activity where the locals hang out in crowded bars and eat cichetti standing up at the bar where the cichetti are spread out for one to choose from.
click here for this delicious Cicchetti recipe for “Polenta Crostini with Caramalized Porcini Mushrooms“!
Asiago is one of Italy’s finest sharp cheese specialties that comes from Veneto’s famous cow’s milk cheese. Asiago is now one of the most popular imported Italian cheeses in the States today and one of my personal favorites. I must try this cheese as fresh as I can find it in Venice!
.
Wine
The best wines from the Veneto region include the fragrant reds, Valpolicella, Bardolino, and the more strong, white Soave.
Grappa is the strong alcohol that comes from distilled grape skin, pulp, seeds, and stem remnants from the winegrape pressings. Grappa has been the peasant’s and farmers’ drink of choice when it was customary to enjoy a very strong drink after a day of hard physical labor. Grappa is Italy’s national spirit, a liqueur today.
Considered to be the national dessert of the Veneto province, Fritelle are small, fried, sweet doughnuts made of flour, eggs, sugar, lemon, and Marsala. They can also be made with a variety of extra ingredients including ‘frutta’ (fruit), cream, powdered sugar, or zabaglione. Venetians have exceptional expertise with pastries and ‘i dolci’ (sweets). Fritelle have been the traditional sweet of Carnival dating all the way back to the Renaissance!
It’s a good thing that I’ll be doing a LOT of walking to hopefully balance the food tasting!
This is certainly not a complete list of the specialty foods of Venice and Veneto, so if you feel that there is some dish that I have not included, please let me know in your comment and I will quickly edit this post upon my return to the States!
Mangia!
Have a fantastic time! I can’t wait to hear all about your trip.
Thanks Lisa and I can’t wait to catch up with all of your posts and recipes too!
I am in awe of this and mesmerized by not just the culture and beauty you have managed to create but amazing and well written post. It makes me feel like I am there with you! IF only… what a dream trip! Bravo, enjoy my friend you deserve this wonderful journey… thanks for sharing this little piece of heaven to us readers! xo Bella, Gracie! Ciao for now!
Thanks Claudia! You WILL be in Italy someday too, to enjoy all of this and more!
You had my mouth watering from the start. I’m sure you’re having a heavenly time.
It truly was a wonderful trip and I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed my posts! I hope that you’ll have a great Thanksgiving and holiday season, Rosemary!
Half your bloomin’ luck Roz! Will be waiting with baited breath to hear all about your trip and see your photos! Oh, your photos! Have a great time.
Anne xx
You are too funny Anne! I always love to hear from you! Hope all is well down under! Starting to get a bit cool here!
wow..Roz, lucky you! The first click is just breathtakingly beautiful!
Thank you Angie, it truly was beautiful everywhere! I’ll be right over to your blog to read everything that I missed while I was gone!
Bella~ Bella!
Venice is a fabulous city, especially in the still of the morning and after the crowd leave.
We are looking forward to your posts!
Godrete~
Hi Sandi! Venice certainly was fabulous, as you said! Thankfully, we weren’t there while it has been under water again. How sad; I hope they find a way to save Venice!
Oh Roz – I think you’ve covered all the bases with those foods of the Veneto and I’ve eaten and/or made all of them except the sardine dish. I have to give that a try someday. I know you’ll have a wonderful time and I can’t wait to hear all about it. Divertitevi!
Coming from you Linda, it’s an honor to know that I covered all the basic traditional foods of Venice! It was a great time and I’m going to hop on over to your blog to read all of the posts that I missed while I was gone!
Ciao,
Roz
Way to make me hungry and envious in one post 😉 Have an amazing time in Venice…we almost missed our city tour b/c the water buses back from Murano didn’t run as frequently as we thought. My idea to try to squeeze in too much! Tell your parents hello from me 🙂
I think that we tried to squeeze in too much in too little time as well Liz! Guess we will all need to go back again to see more of what we missed!
I am excited for you! It is going to be an amazing trip. I am looking forward to seeing the photos and reading the blog posts upon your return.
Velva
Thanks Velva! And you know what? With all of the walking, I didn’t gain a pound from noshing on all of the food that I devoured in Italy!
What a lot of work you have done in advance. Look forward to hearing more.
It’s a bad habit of mine to research stuff . . . but this was an enjoyable job! Thanks for your comment and I’m off to read what you’ve been up to lately on your blog!
Hi Roz, would you recommend the hotel you are staying at in Venice? Planning to be there at the end of the month. Let me know, thank you!
Laura, we stayed at the Marriott in Padua since we used some of my reward points and the Marriotts in Venice were full. I can’t wait to read about your trip!
Ciao,
Roz
I’m so thrilled for you. Have fun Roz.
Sam
Thanks Sam! I promise you that I had a great time!
Thank you, Roz, for this rich, magical post. Looking forward to more!
You are so welcome, it’s my pleasure! Thanks for your sweet comment! And now I’m heading off to catch up with what I missed over on your blog!
venice is the most romantic city in Italy. And yes you are right it is the city of Dreams. The food form your pictures should be very delicious. Mmm..
Thank you so much! You have a beautiful city with a delicious cuisine!
I am studying foodways in Venice for a paper. Your article helps a lot. Thank you!
Wow, I love your pix! My wife and I are off to Venice in four days! This will be my third time in La Serenissima and Karen’s second. Venice is an amazing city. It is also a REALLY challenging city to eat in if you don’t know the ‘ropes’ and how to seek out and find the places where the locals eat. I love the fact that Venice is not ‘easy’ and one must take the time to get to know her. We will do a bacari crawl with a group this time and we are eating at Antiche Carampane, one on Venice’s very best local trats (also hard to find which may be one reason its still a FIND among foodies). Despite the cruise ships and tourists and Disney-land quality Venice can sometimes evoke, it is simply one of the most magical places on earth. You just have to get off the beaten path and have a sense of adventure! Thanks for sharing yours!
Ciao,
-Mark
When I was in Venice a couple of months ago I tried a nice tour through the typical bars (found on this page http://www.venicewinetour.com).
I tried the normal tour with 5 bars and the gondola ride. Our guide was a professional sommelier with an incredible knowledge Venice and the italian cuisine. I could definitely recommend a tour like this to anyone that visit Venice for the first time and want to discover the real venetian lifestyle tasting amazing food and wines!
Marie
Hi Marie, wow this tour sounds amazing…thanks for the tip!
The way you described how gnocchi in quattro formaggio is Italian culinary bliss just makes my mouth water. I’ve been thinking of what cuisine to try next for my next date with my boyfriend and he suggested Italian. I hope we can find a restaurant that has this on their menu.