venetian menu venice

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Venetian cuisine, is very diverse, and has three main environments: A coastal area rich of fish and seafood, a hilly inland territory ideal for wineries and farming, and an agricultural mountainside.

Rice is cultivated in the plains and corn everywhere in the region. Risotto and polenta are the staples and represent the basis of Venetian cuisine. Spices and herbs, cinnamon, cloves, raisin, pomegranate are commonly used in Venetian dishes and represent the heritage of centuries of close exchange with the East.

Venetian cooking, as well all Italian food at large, is able to combine simple ingredients and sauces to form complex flavors.

Venice should be visited at least once in a lifetime. It is a unique city, melancholic at times, built not only out of stones, it is said, but also of water and sky. The people have a special love for the pleasures of the table, accompanied by chatter and gossip.

Veneto takes its name from the “Veneti”, the people inhabiting this region in pre-roman times. Famous for their skills in horse breeding, they were later conquered by the Romans and the area became part of the Roman Empire. With the fall of the empire, the people populating northeastern Italy found themselves on the main path of the barbarian invaders. They run away in part hiding in the lagoon at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea and around the year 500 AD the city of Venice was founded.

Through the centuries the new city grew into the Venetian Republic. Venice became the greatest maritime power of the Mediterranean and developed important settlements in the region. In 1380 Venice defeated Genoa, the main rival, and assured for itself the hegemony on the trade in the Mediterranean Sea. The richness of Venice was mainly due its monopoly on the commerce of exotic goods, spices and grains between the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe.

Recipes from Veneto

A large dish of freshly cached “Scampi”, also known as Langoustine or Norway Lobster, is served “Al Fresco” in a summer day in small trattoria in Venice. They are simply grilled and dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and fresh herbs, complemented by a glass of fresh Prosecco wine.

Veneto recipes are essentially simple, rich of the fresh ingredients and vegetables grown in the area, and strictly seasonal. Each town has its own traditional dishes, too many to mention. Traditional recipes include Sarde in Saor (sardines in a sweet and sour sauce) and Risi e Bisi (rice and pea soup) of Venice, Baccala’ alla Vicentina (salted cod fish) in Vicenza, Zuppa Scaligera in Verona, and dishes based on radicchio in Treviso. In addition Veneto is rich of excellent wines such as Valpolicella, Amarone, Soave, sweet Recioto, sparkling Prosecco, as well as the strong Grappa liquor.

Risi e Bisi
Rice and Peas Soup

Brasato
all’Amarone
Braised Beef
with Amarone Wine

Cavolo Affogato
Sauteed Cabbage

Zaleti
Venetian Corn Cookies

Risotto con Zucca e Radiccho
Risotto with Pumpkin and Red Radicchio

Risotto con gli Asparagi
Risotto with Asparagus

Cape Sante alla Veneziana
Sautéed Scallops

TIRAMISU’
Coffee and Cheese Cake Trifle

At the beginning of the sixteenth century however the power of Venice started to decline for the rise of the Ottoman Empire on the East, the increased importance of the trade by the Dutch and British, and the decline in the demand for spices. In 1797 the independence of Venice ended when the city was occupied by Napoleon. Later in time Venice and the Veneto region, as well as a large part of Northern Italy, were annexed by the Austrian Empire, and in 1866 Venice at last became part of the Kingdom of Italy.

The small streets of Venice abound of little restaurants. Venice was the crossroad between Europe and the East: Here in the past times visitors from all over the Mediterranean met to trade and their cuisine rich of spices became popular. Venetians enjoyed great wealth for three centuries: While other built strongholds, the wealthy Venetians, from Renaissance to Baroque, built lavish country villas for vacation. The best musicians, artists, painters, and writers were attracted into the city and dining was luxurious. Not only the Veneto countryside could provide fresh meat, fish, vegetables, and wine, but the market were full of spices and exotic foods.

Before dinner Venetian love to “andar per ombre” (go for the shadows), that is spend some time walking around, stop along the way into the small osterias, and have an “ombra” a shadow of wine.

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Colored houses along one of the canals of the island of Burano.

The Bucintoro at the Molo on Ascension Day. Canaletto, c. 1732.

Marriage of the sea (Sposalizio del Mare) was a ceremony symbolizing the maritime dominion of Venice. The ceremony, established about 1000 AD was a solemn procession of boats, headed by' the Doge's Bucentauro. Prayers were chanted that "for us and all who sail thereon the sea may be calm and quiet". Every year the doge dropped a ring into the sea, and with the Latin words “Desponsamus te, mare” (We wed thee, sea) declared Venice and the sea to be one forever.

The dominion of Venice stretched as far as Greece, Cyprus, as well as along the whole Adriatic coast. The Venetian Republic, known as the “Serenissima” (the most serene) became the greatest commercial power of medieval times and through the Renaissance period. The influence of the Byzantine world is evident in the rich architecture of the city and the spice trade has left its mark in the Venetian cooking style, flavorful and rich of eastern character.

Fegato
alla Veneziana
Liver and Onion
Venetian Style

Cape Sante
al Basilico
Scallops in Basil Sauce