Tour Guide, Venice, Italy
| 4 mins read
Architecture, painting, and history of the most serene republic are food for your soul, but we cannot neglect our stomach and the city can be a real surprise. Eating well is the central part of your Italian experience that is why I am here to give you all the good tips not to miss all the best Venice has to offer.
Venice was built on the water and its inhabitants were famous traders dealing mainly with the far and middle east, the reason why these people were forced to be very creative in finding ways to preserve food during long journeys (and got influenced by and oriental touch adding special spices).
We have many small Venetian inns in Venice (we call them bacàri) where you can have a glass of wine or a Spritz and pair them with snacks that we call Cicchetti (similar to Spanish tapas deriving from the Latin word ciccum meaning small quantity since you can eat them in one bite).
One of the most popular Cicchetti or starters at the restaurant is Sarde in Saor (sweet and sour sardines) consisting in fried sardines covered with onions stewed with vinegar, salt, clove, black pepper, laurel leaves and olive oil.
The more you leave them to rest in the fridge, the better they taste since they were prepared to last for long journeys and there were no refrigerators in the past.
If you do not like sardines, we have a wide range of “saor” now like the shrimps one, the chicken one or the pumpkin, carrots, or red chicory salad one suitable for vegans as well.
Another very tasty snack is Baccala’ Mantecato (Codfish spread) made with dry stockfish cooked with milk, black pepper and then mixed with a light vegetable seeds oil using a food processor in order to create a creamy, soft and airy spread you can serve with hot polenta or on a hot toast.
Tramezzini are special triangular shaped sandwiches famous in Venice because normally with 2 you are done for lunch spending just a few euros (average is € 1,80/2,00 each).
Two slices of soft milk bread with no crust stuffed with everything you can ask from ham and cheese to shrimps and eggs, eggplants, tomatoes, or tuna etc and tones of mayonnaise.
A real Venetian [Silvia Na1] delicatessen you will find in both fancy bars and at stand up places where people grab them on their lunch break when in a hurry.
Tramezzini must be served cold! Do not even dare to ask to have them warm or toasted as you would lose all the flavours.
Mozzarella in Carrozza (Mozzarella cheese in the carriage)
This old Neapolitan snack became extremely popular in all the Venetian bacàri: similar to a tramezzino, using the same type of bread, but with a rectangular shape and stuffed with mozzarella cheese and anchovies or ham only, dropped in a special liquid batter and then fried.
Gold and swollen than the Neapolitan version, thanks to the leavened batter, the Venetian style Mozzarella is a must. Cheap and delicious as a real Cicchetto must be!
Best for last for all of you with a sweet tooth we have delicious biscuits called Bussolai.
To please your taste buds, try these local biscuits also known as Buranelli, from Burano island, as they were originally prepared by the wives of the fishermen of the island of Burano and can now be found in any pastry shop or bakery in Venice.
These biscuits are quite simple but very tasty since they are made with a lot of butter and 10/12 egg yolks per every kilo of flour used (that is why they are so yellow).
Their shape can be round or S letter since they recall the shape of the Grand Canal (shaped like an upside-down S letter).
These sweets are delicious alone or with a coffee but the best is to drop them into some mulled wine or a local rare wine called Fragolino (literally meaning tiny strawberry as it tastes like strawberries which can be white or red).
The above is just some of the amazing food you can taste when in Venice; book a tour with us and you will experience an incredible journey in the local tradition.
About drinks…well that is another story!
Stay tuned as here in Venice we use to say that water is unbelievably dangerous as it makes the wood rot and corrodes metals.