*grumble*grumble*

Did you hear that? Was that my stomach? 

For me, italian food comes to one of the best and most diverse types of food of Europe. With spicey, meaty, and deep flavours is it a surprise my stomach is rumbling? 

Despite italy being so well known for all of its culinary delicacies, I often find that unless it’s an ‘Indian’ pasta, or an occasional lasagne, the range of Italian foods in my daily food planning was lacking. So armed with the basics of oooh pizza, pasta and bruschetta I endeavoured to learn more and expand my culinary experience. 

But where to begin? 

Venice is where I begin my journey, so please stick around… as I learn and encourage all of you to comment and help me.

It isn’t the first time I’ve been to Venice, aside from knowing it as the rich merchant island, where many noble men and women resided, I knew little about it. 

1.  Cuttlefish ink pasta (pasta al Nero di seppia)

On my first day, I met my friend who has been to Venice many a times, and was kind enough to recommend a place to eat near our hotel in mestre. 

We got to soul kitchen ( a foreign friendly restaurant and bar) and proceeded with looking at the menu. 

If the many things I had seen on instagram or be it my friends travelling the first thing that stood out to me was the squid ink pasta. One of the specialities of Venice as I understand it.

This was tailgate with burrata cheese and spicy shrimp.

My mouth is genuinely watering as I write this.

Richa’s rating: 12/10

This was only the first dish I had eaten, and was shocked by how amazing it was! The black ink, not only made it striking, but the cheese and pasta were so delicate it was light and before I knew it, the dish was gone.

But this was definitely a piece of me.

My lips and tongue were all stained black. So if the messiness is not for you, I would be mindful. But it doesn’t stain, and genuinely it’s creamy, flavourful and the flavours were so harmonious I was genuinely shocked. 

Looking through the history of the dish, it is not hard to see that the dish is linked to the incredible marine life that Venice is situated in, and is often known as the dish of the Venetian lagoon. Honestly, I don’t blame them, it is one that I will remember.

2. Tiramisu 

Everyone: How many times have you had tiramisu in Venice 

Me: yes 

Yum yum yum

These two pictures were taken in two different places, and the people were so kind, we even got one for free just for enjoying it so much! (Although I think it helped that my friend could speak Italian). 

Creamy, sweet with chocolate and coffee. What else can you do, except ask for it with every meal? Genuinely, the name ‘tiramisu’ itself means ‘pick me’, which can hardly be a surprise with both coffee and cocoa powder, things we can’t help but love!

This was originally made in a nearby city of Treviso (also in Veneto region) is a favourite in Venice, and the pride of many restaurateurs. We found ‘Homemade tiramisu’ in every restaurant or Baraco that we went to. So with every coffee a side of tiramisu was a given.

Richa’s rating: 9/10

Depending on where you get this from. The best one for me was as soon as we came into Venice, over the bridge from pizzale Roma and infront of you was this lovely bistro. 

The tiramisu was the perfect blend of sweet and creamy for me. 

This was one I would definitely make at home. 

3. Cicchetto – the Venetian tapas

‘Italians have tapas!?’, i asked, with a singular eyebrow rising as I stared at Stefania.

She looked at me incredulously wondering where I had been for the past century. Okay, so perhaps this is something everyone else knows, but it was news to me. 

But how many Italian restaurants in the UK had I been to, and not once seen this before? What was cicchetto? 

I was in Burano when I tried this, seeing it as ‘Venetian tapas’ and curious enough to try this. 

The lady brought out 5 pieces:

• 3 polenta balls: pollenta Tonno, polenta ortelana (made from spinach, cipolia and formage cheese) and polenta burrata 
• Chicchetto affettato- two pieces of bread with thinly sliced ham with pepper or cheese.
• The last piece was a rectangular cut of white fish, with prawn and sultanas on top 

Served as appetisers this was in some ways very similar to the Spanish tapas. 

Richa’s ratings: 6/10 

The food itself is lovely. The sea food is lovely! And so much variety! 

It’s something different to try, but not eating so much sea food myself, it takes some adjusting to. White fish and prawns are very diverse though! So definitely would try it again, and eat more! Like tapas I imagine these come in so many different shapes and sizes, one meal wouldn’t do it justice.

So does this come from Spain? 

No…yes…sort of?

Cicchetto are a very traditional Venetian cuisine, however, they were well known merchants. For merchants to be successful, meals and sharing were required, and as such chichetto came about. There is no evidence that it migrated from Spain, however, Mediterranean culinary exchanges over trades may have influenced this

5. Sarde in saor 

This dish is often part of cicchetti, but one that was eaten by sailors and fishermen, who would preserve their fish in vinegar and spices for them to eat and to last longer.

Being completely honest, of the things I could have tried this was not one of them…

The innate fear of sardines took over and sadly I didn’t try this one, but I’m regretting it so much, that I’ve put it on the list for my next travels.

Richa’s rating: I wish I had tried this! Tell me what you thought!

6. Risi e Bisi

A dish which apparently dates back to the days of republic of Venice. It was a dish that was given to the noble family. Today it is a dish that is served in the spring, and on the feast of St Mark.

I will not lie to you, I was not impressed at first glance. This was a speciality of Venice, one that was given to nobles…right? . Did they just put a pea soup in-front of me? why is this a Venetian speciality? It didn’t make sense to me.

More so, the name literally translates to rice and peas. And as someone who has enjoyed Indian cuisine for years, rice in soup…seemed a little odd to me.

But my was I wrong! Thick and creamy and very hearty. I could imagine eating it on a cold winters day, and feeling very very homey with it. The rice worked very well, and was surprisingly filling! And one of the few dishes which were gluten free, which would definitely be a plus for someone who is aiming to be gluten free or if you’d had your share of bread and pasta for this trip!

Richa’s rating: 7/10

The dish itself is meant to represent unity, it was meant for Venetian nobility but simple enough to be enjoyed by the common people as well. People tend to eat this on the feast of st marks, as it represents spring as well as decreasing the distance between the rich and poor.

7. Wine, Wine and more wine

And more wine …

I am no wine connoisseur. What I do know is that I like sweet wines. So give me a white wine that is sweet and you have a very happy Richa. 

Of all the wines that I tried there, this was my favourite. Again this is probably something that might not be appreciated by a more sophisticated palate, however for us, this was lovely. However, a bit too sweet for Stefania she opted for Prosecco on tap. 

Richa’s ratings: 9/10 

The thing I love is, discovering new wines in new countries, that I actually enjoy! 

Following the nicest wine I have had to date in Cyprus this was my favourite. Not dry at all! But please suggest as many as you can! I would love to add to my list! 

8. Fritole Veneziane

Ok as you can tell this was one of the treats I had gotten for myself as soon as I got off the plane. These tiny stuffed dough balls, are a favourite in Venice at the time of carnival.

But as if we could stop!

Finding the history behind each food item helps me to understand the culture much more. For example we had come at the time of carnival. Venetian carnival is nothing like what I expected it to be…with people dressed as Venetian hot air balloons, to simply dressed as topless cavemen. So it was a huge surprise, whilst I was researching these specific pastries, that this was connected to a religion.

The carnival itself happens just before lent, with the last day of carnival being the day just before lent. So just like pancake day in the UK and the US (and many other countries I’m sure), these doughballs are eaten in carnival to get rid of all the fat stores in the house to be ready for lent. I may not celebrate lent, but I love how this is celebrated in Venice.

Richa’s rating: 10/10

Conclusion

This is by no means a wide ranging list.

But something of a start with. Venice has such a wide range of delicacies, many of which I tried and learnt about. It’s definitely made me realise the immense breadth of Italian food (of which I have only tried a morsel of).

I tried very little meat here, mainly because I’m Hindu, and a lot of the meat that Venice is well known for is beef and veal. However, please let me know what you all thought of the food and anything you want to add to my list to try!