When visiting a city one of the things I love most is to immerse myself in the local culture and even more I like to try what are the typical dishes, I think it's a great way to get to know a place better. For this I will recommend some of the delicacies to taste absolutely during a visit to Venice.
Two of the most famous and widespread dishes, which you can also find on the counters of some delis or in taverns to eat as cicheto along with a good shade of wine, are certainly the sardines in saor and creamed cod. The origin of both these delicacies is to be found in the history of commercial and seafaring Venice; the recipe for sardines was created to satisfy the sailors' need to feed on board the boats while preserving the catch: they are in fact flavored (hence saor) with vinegar and onions, to which over time pine nuts and raisins have also been added, index of role of the city of "gateway to the East".
The story concerning the cod originates from the shipwreck of a Venetian merchant near the Lofoten Islands, where he knew the existence of the stock-fish (cod), which he then brought with him back to the lagoon. The “cream” is prepared by skilfully whipping the beaten stockfish, soaked in water, cleaned and chopped with olive oil, salt, pepper and oil. Be wary of those who prepare it with butter and cream !!
Speaking of more "consistent" dishes it is necessary to mention the first par excellence: i bigoi in sauce, a fresh pasta that was traditionally made at home with the press and seasoned "di magro" with onions and sardines for occasions such as Christmas Eve or Ash Wednesday. Now you can taste this delicacy in practically every restaurant in the lagoon.
Il Venetian liver (or figĂ Ă ea Venessiana) is another dish that never fails on the tables of Venetian taverns. Its origin is probably Roman and the name derives from the original recipe that wanted it cooked with figs (figĂ ), which the inhabitants of the Serenissima replaced with the inevitable onions. A particular second course of meat with seventeenth-century origins is the Venetian castradina, in which the mutton is cooked with cabbage, onions and wine. Its origin is linked to the period of isolation of the city during the plague, when the Dalmatians supplied it with this type of meat: now it is in fact a characteristic dish of the days of November in which Santa Maria della Salute is celebrated.
Three other "goodies" all Venetian are the bovoeti, le moeche e polenta with schie. The first are clear snails that are found in the hot season, the recipe calls for them cooked and simply seasoned with oil, garlic, salt, pepper and parsley. This dish is traditionally prepared and sold especially on the occasion of the Festa del Redentore at the end of July. Fried moeche, also called “sea nuggets”, on the other hand, are found in spring and autumn, when these lagoon crabs change their carapace, remaining without it for a very short period. Hence the name moeca also derives. Schie are also “fruits” of the lagoon: small gray shrimps, usually fried whole or served “peeled” and seasoned with polenta.
The most easily found desserts in taverns, bakeries and pastry shops are various types of biscuits, which can be tasted "pucciati" in a glass of sweet wine. The that and compasses they are very simple biscuits in the shape of an "S" or round, originating from Burano. THE zaeti (from zà lo: yellow) are made of corn flour, hence the name, and raisins. THE baìcoli, on the other hand, they are perfect in zabajone, even if originally they were served with coffee: these are slightly different sweets from the previous ones, in fact they are "royal pasta seasoned with sugar, spongy and toasted". Due to this characteristic, which guaranteed a long conservation, they were included among the provisions of the merchant and war ships of the Serenissima; their name instead seems to derive from the similarity in the shape of the biscuit to a small mullet fish, called baìcoli. The death Bean instead they are typical sweets of the days between October and November, to be consumed by tradition together with chestnuts, pumpkin, American potatoes and a glass of Torbolino. The recipe in the Venetian version is based on pine nuts, unlike that characteristic of Trieste, where almonds are the protagonists.
A dessert that you won't find so easily in a restaurant is there grip: a poor dish and not particularly beautiful, but really really greedy, one of the oldest recipes of Venetian and Venetian cuisine. The basic ingredient is stale bread which is combined with raisins, cocoa, candied fruit, dried fruit, fennel seeds and chi-piĂą-ne-ne-piĂą-ne-metta, there is no official recipe, depending on the zones and houses there are different versions. It was once the sweet bread of Christmas and Epiphany.
In the winter, until spring, it is easy to find there in bakeries and pastry shops fugassa Venessian: this is also a dessert of poor origin, made of leavened dough, buttery and covered with granulated sugar that is usually eaten at Easter.
