Food Lover's Odyssey

Christmas Around Italy: Traditional Venetian Christmas Dinner

Christmas lights in Saint Mark's Square

 

Continuing with our Christmas Around Italy  guest post series, today we welcome Monica Cesarato from Venice!  I had the pleasure of meeting Monica, a Venetian, last March during Carnival and taking a personal food walk with her.  Monica blogs about Venice and owns and runs the Faronhof Bed and Breakfast, just outside of Venice. She also is one of the two people who run Cook in Venice, where they offer food tours in Venice and Venetian cooking courses, specializing in traditional dishes of Venice and the region.  Today Monica is sharing a typical Venetian Christmas Dinner, the dishes that make up the dinner and the traditions behind them.  Enjoy!

 

Snowy Saint Mark's Square

 

Have you ever wondered what Venetians eat traditionally for Christmas?

Julia Child said: “You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.”    This typifies Venetian cooking: simple fresh ingredients enriched by herbs and spices, turning a simple uncomplicated recipe into a sublime dish. This is usually what appears in both the Grand Canal palaces and the normal houses of people living in Venice and in the Veneto region during the festive season!

 

Murano Glass Christmas Tree

 

Since the 15^th century the Catholic Church has set a big distinction on what you are usually allowed to eat on Christmas Eve and what you should eat on Christmas day.  This is why, in days bygone, Christmas Eve's lunch would have been the only meal of the day: by decree of the Church, Venetians  were supposed to fast from morning till evening with the exception of midday, when they were allowed to have a small meal of Bigoli co la Sardela (Venetian spaghetti with sardines), Mandorlato (nougat) e vin Bon (good wine).

 

 

Fish at the Rialto Market

Nowadays the use of eating “magro” (light -  that is eating fish and vegetables) continues but instead of having a midday meal, the banquet has moved to the evening, with a light (if we can call it that) dinner. Venetian Christmas Eve's tables will be full of traditional fish based recipes, like Risotto de Pevarasse (Venetian Clams risotto), Branzino al forno (oven cooked Seabass) or Anguilla (Eel) accompanied by mixed fried fish together with some grilled or stewed vegetables. No matter that they will be smothered with mayonnaise and other sauces, the perception of “magro” still persists!

 

 

Antipasti of Salami

 

Then Christmas day comes.   Always back in the middle ages, the agrarian rituals demanded that people should eat “ossocollo”, a typical Venetian sausage, made by using the pieces of meat from the vertebrae of the pig's neck. The meat is marinated with salt and saltpeter for a week, then it's dried, covered with milled pepper and mixed spices and then it is packed in the guts of the pig. It is tied and hanged for 2 months. In the 15th century ossocollo would be used to make broth as well as constituting the main meal of this special day.

 

Today a typical Venetian Christmas meal would still start with an antipasto (starter) of ossocollo but also with other cold meats like Soppressa, Salame, Prosciutto Crudo e Cotto served with grissini (breadsticks) and pickled vegetables (onion, gherkins, peppers, carrots).

 

 

Capeeti (photo courtesy Andrea Buoso - Flickr)

 

But for centuries right up to today, three main traditional dishes have been served on Venetian Christmas tables for the joy of all diners: Capeeti or Ravioli in Brodo di Cappone (Ravioli in Capon broth), Cappone lesso (boiled Capon) and  “Musetto” (boiled salame) with Puree di patate (mashed potatoes) and spinaci (spinach).

 

The “mare” (the mother, the woman of the house) prepares the broth with the cappone (a capon is a rooster that has been castrated to improve the quality of its meat) on Christmas eve, boiling a large capon together with salted water and carrots, celery, onion and herbs. This broth will be used to cook the capeeti (small homemade tortellini) in it. The capeeti would be prepared with flour, eggs and water, mixing to a dough, rolling it and cutting out some rounds which would have been filled with a mixture of pork meat, turkey meat, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and eggs.  Just exactly like Tortellini or Ravioli.  This tradition is so old, that in Venice it would not be Christmas if you didn't find this dish on the table.

 

The Capon is then cut into chunks and served as the main dish together with the “Musetto”, a salame similar to the cotechino in shape, but at the same time very different in taste. The worldwide famous cotechino is made using the rind of the pig together with lean and fat pork meat.  “Musetto” is made using the meat from the head of the pig (previously boiled) which is minced and then mixed with lean pork meat and spices.  The musetto is then cooked in boiling water for a few hours and served in slices.

The Capon and the Musetto are always served on a bed of mashed potatoes (in Italy our mashed potatoes are a more chunky then the American ones) and spinach (either boiled or stewed) together with different sauces like cren (horseradish sauce), mayonnaise, mustard. Many times there will also be the unmissable hot creamy polenta, either yellow or white.

 

 

Pandoro (photo courtesy Conanil - Flickr)

 

And last, but not least, desserts!!!!  Venice is famous for having a dessert for every occasion (Carnevale, Easter and so on), but Christmas brings the best out of Venetian bakeries and patisseries and this is reflected on the festive menu. At the end of a very large and succulent meal, Venetians will have for sure first some dried fruits like nuts, walnuts, peanuts, figs, dates followed by the real dessert, which would have come either from a local baker or patisserie: most probably Pandoro (the typical raised all butter soft bread cake from Verona) or Panettone (similar to Pandoro, but filled with raisins and mixed peel), but they might also have Torrone (nougat) or Mostarda con Mascarpone.  

Mostarda is a condiment typical of some Northern Italian regions, dating back around the year 1300.  Not yellow mustard as Americans know it, mostarda is a condiment of candied fruit and mustard essence.  Mostarda allowed people to keep extremely perishable fruit for a long time. A typical mostarda is made with sugar, mustard essence and whole fruits, but Venetian mustard is made with different types of candied fruit and finely chopped quince as well as mustard essence. The combination with the mascarpone cheese makes it a really tasty and delicate dessert.

 

Obviously all of this opulence would be paired with the best wines the Veneto region can offer: rivers of Prosecco or Raboso, fountains of Merlot or Manzoni, gushes of Soave or Verduzzo. And to end it all the best of dessert wines, like the worldwide famous Cartizze, the Recioto or the Moscato.

 

So, hoping to have tantalized your taste buds, as we say here, Buon Appetito e Buon Natale!

 

*This post is part of Wander Food Wednesdays.

 

 

Related Posts:

Christmas Around Italy: 10 Addresses for Christmas Sweets in Rome 

Christmas Around Italy - Christmas Traditions in Naples

Christmas in France - Aix-en-Provence Christmas Market

Holiday Dessert Recipes

Tasting Venice - A Food Tour with Monica Cesarato 

Italian Hot Chocolate and Carnival in Venice

 

Eating My Way Through Venice - Cicchetti and Seafood Antipasto

 

Being a fan of the long and leisurely many-course Italian meal, I'm still happy to say that this time I ate my way through Venice in little bites and small plates.  Partly due to the fact that I didn't want to miss out on the festivities and also due to being a solo traveler, where long leisurely meals aren't as fun, I grazed my way through Venice on cicchetti and mixed plates of it.  

 

 

These small plates or Venetian-style tapas, Cicchetti, suit Venice's pedestrian culture well.  You walk a little, stop for a bite, maybe baccala mantecato or cured meats on a crostini, or some fried treats. (Don't forget the little shade of wine to wash it down.) You walk some more, winding your way through the labyrinth of calli and along the rii that line the canals, stop for a few more bites, this time going for some of the many seafood cicchetti. And, repeat. If you're a little hungrier or need to sit a while, you can order a plate of mixed cicchetti .  The mixed plate of seafood is one of my favorite treats and I'll often order it as an antipasto course when I sit for a whole meal.

 

 

Types of cicchetti are as numerous as Venice's bridges.  Besides being a great way to sample many Venetian specialties on a small scale, they are budget-friendly.  Usually around 1-3 euros per piece, you can have a filling meal, along with a glass of wine for 15 euros. You can also split your meal between a few different places, this practice is commonly known as a cicchetti crawl or a bacari crawl.  Bacari being the name for the wine and cicchetti bars in Venice.  My ideal cicchetti crawl looks a little something like this:

 

Ca' D'Oro alla Vedova

Ca' D'Oro also known as La Vedova is right off the Strada Nova and near the Ca' D'Oro vaporetto stop.  Lucky for me, it was also right around the corner from my apartment. Being the first time I've been in Venice during artichoke season, I fell in love with their fondo di carciofi, soft and succulent artichoke bottoms in a simple marinade of oil, vinegar and parsely.  I stopped by for at least one whenever I was there early and the crowd wasn't yet spilling out in the alley in front of its doors. All of their seafood cicchetti is exceptional, too.  I especially liked the little marinated seppie and octopus.  They also serve a mixed cicchetti plate or a vegetable plate at the table, which you could order by itself or as an antipasto before a pasta or main course.

 

 

Osteria La Bottega ai Promessi ai Sposi

Near La Vedova is one of my favorite places in Venice, Osteria la Bottega ai Promessi ai Sposi.  Often, I've had two- or three-course meals there, but the osteria also serves up cicchetti at the bar and as antipasti.  One afternoon I stopped in for their antipasto plate.  Their bacala mantecato is amazing.  Dried salt cod soaked in water then drained, it's whisked into a creamy spread as olive oil is slowly drizzled in. Everything on the plate was good; the marinated anchovies, an octopus and potato salad, a pea and green bean salad.

 

 

La Cantina Carbonera Vecia

On my food walk with Monica, we stopped into La Cantina Carbonera Vecia. Crostini topped with a variety of spreads line the bar as you enter.  The wine offerings are scribbled on a chalkboard across from the bar.  In the summer, cicchetti crawlers sit at tables outside or along the steps of the nearby bridge.  As it was March, we went to the back room.  It was a convivial place to sip and nibble while talking with each other and those sitting at the long table with us. We shared a plate of crostini, topped with baccala mantecato and others spread made from local seasonal vegetables like zucca (pumpkin) and radicchio.  

 

 

Anice Stellato

Recommended to me by a few Venetians, I sought out Anice Stellato along one of the quietest calle in Venice. In Cannaregio, behind the bustling Strada Nova and after crossing two bridges, I found it among the silence and the fog. I even forgot for a moment I was in Venice during one of the busiest times of the year. I had the mixed seafood cicchetti plate.  As many of you know, I love a good agrodolce, and their sardine in saor was exceptional.  I would definitely return again and order only a plate of that.

 

 

 Antica Osteria Ruga Rialto and All' Arco

After a visit to the Rialto Market, I stopped by the Antica Osteria Ruga Rialto for their cicheti misti, a mixed plate of seafood dishes.  Then I moved on to All' Arco. It's a tiny cicchetteria that was packed inside.  I squeezed my way up to the bar for crostini topped with prosciutto and a baccala Vicentina washed down with the house white wine.  Baccala Vicentina is salt cod in the style of the nearby city Vicenza. The cod is soaked then whipped, in additional to olive oil, anchovies, onions and parsley are added to this variation. 

 

 

 

Canitnone gia' Schiavi

Cantinone gia' Schiavi is a not-to-miss stop on a cicchetti crawl.  The long ciccetteria has wines completely filling the side walls.  Mamma dishes out the 1 euro cicchetti at this family run spot that's always filled with both locals and tourists.  On the rio San Trovaso, it's right by the bridge of the same name.  The weather in March was warm enough for many of us to sit on the short brick wall outside and enjoy the sun, the boats and gondole passing along the canal.

 

 

 

Caffe Rosso or Al Rosso

Although Caffe Rosso in Campo Santa Margherita has small sandwiches from which to choose, I go specifically to finish a cicchetti crawl with a Spritz con Aperol and to people watch in the campo.  Besides sampling cicchetti, a day in Venice isn't complete without at least one Spritz.

 

 

 

 

Addresses:

Ca' D'Oro: Ramo Ca' D'Oro, 3912 Cannaregio

Osteria la Bottega ai Promessi ai Sposi: Calle del' Oca, 4367 Cannaregio

La Carbonera Vecia: Strada Nova at Ponte Sant' Antonio, 2329 Cannaregio

Anice Stellato: Fondamenta della Sensa, 3272 Cannaregio

Antica Osteria Ruga Rialto: Ruga Rialto, 629 San Polo

All' Arco: Calle dell' Occhialer, 436 San Polo

Cantinone gia' Schiavi: Ponte San Trovaso, 992 Dorsoduro

Caffe Rosso: Campo Santa Margherita, 2963 Dorsoduro

 

 

Related Posts:

Tasting Venice - A Food Tour with Monica Cesarato

Sfogi in Saor - Venetian Style Sole in Agrodolce Sauce

Favorite Scenes and Costumes from Carnival 2011 in Venice

Cicheti and Ombra - Little Tastes of Venice

Best Ways to Savor Venice

Italian Hot Chocolate and Carnival in Venice

Pomegranate Spritz - Twist on a Venetian Spritz and Embracing Italian Culture

Lo Spritz - Happy Hour in Venice

Tiramisu Recipe

Burano - Jewel of the Lagoon

A Morning at the Rialto Market

A Lesson in Venetian Maskmaking

Italy and France in Shades of Blue

The Italian Teacher, the Friend, and a Magical Chocolate Kahlua Budino

Italy in Books Review - The Glassblower of Murano

Saturday Scene - Italy and France in Shades of Blue

 

Welcome to a new series on Food Lover's Odyssey, The Saturday Scene.  I've been tossing around the idea of a day dedicated to sharing a few of my favorite scenes from Italy and France.  Also, one of my friends, who regularly gives unsolicited critiques of my blog, told me that my posts are too long! Yes, he basically said I talk too much. 

After picking both my mouth and my ego from the floor, I decided to mix things up a little and provide shorter posts and ones that are more photo-oriented for those that would like to look more and read less. So committed I am to doing it, I have dedicated every Saturday to posts that are short-on-words and long on lovely views of my two favorite countries.

An inspiration for this week's post has been a Twitter event I've been taking part in called #frifotos. I started participating a few weeks ago, and it's been a lot of fun.  Every week @EpsteinTravels, the founder of the event, and his co-hosts pick a theme. On Friday people from around the world share their photos based on that theme.  Yesterday's theme was "blue."  If you missed the event but still want to see what it's all about, on Twitter you can check out the hashtag #frifotos and see all of the photos there.  There are also two great roundups of the photos: @CorkBilly produces one here, and Wild About Travel shares their picks for the best FriFotos of the week. 

Below are my contributions: the blues of Italy and France.   

 

 A few blues from Carnival in Venice

 

 

Images from the light show at the Bi-Annual Fete du Vin in Bordeaux

 

 

Dusk in the Cinque Terre - Above Vernazza and along the beach in Monterosso

 

 

 

Blue Hydrangeas from the Cours Saleya Market in Nice...

and from a florist near Rue Mouffetard in Paris

 

 

 

Some blues among the colorful houses of Burano

 

 

 

A Rue in Paris - Wouldn't you love to live here?

 

 

Blue window scene at Fauchon in Paris for Easter

 

 

Blue pedal boat at the beach in Camogli

 

Blue sea off the coast of Panarea in the Aeolian Islands

 

Along the shore in Otranto and a few blue boats there, too

 

 

The Bay of Poets in Portovenere - Liguria

 

 

Sailing in the Amalfi Coast

 

 

Blue Umbrellas and the beach in Nice

 

 

 

 

Related Posts:

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Market Day in Sarlat and the Food of Dordogne

My Last Meal - Preparing for the End of the World

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Spaccanapoli and Naples' Historic Center

Pizza Lover's Odyssey in Naples

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Rome with a View - Five Favorite Spots for Photo Ops in Rome

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Favorite Scenes and Costumes from Carnevale 2011 in Venice in Photos

 

 

Carnival 2011 in Venice is over. The costumes, the masks, the balls, parades, parties and frittelle are all finished until next year. All that remains is confetti in the streets; that and the memories. Now it's time for the lenten fast. Ha! I saw many people breakfasting on frittelle still this morning. So much for that fast. In case any of you want to start planning for next year, Carnival in Venice 2012 will be from February 11 to 21, 2012.

Here are my favorite scenes from this year's Carnival in photos. Enjoy!

Martedi Grasso - Fat Tuesday in Venice

 

Fat Tuesday in Venice, and "Ogni scherzo vale" (Every trick/prank is ok) is the saying for today. Think of the U.S. holidays Halloween and April Fools Day put together and that is Martedi Grasso in Venice. The entire city is on holiday and celebrating in each person's own way. Pastel-colored confetti carpets the streets and groups dressed in theme-coordinated costumes sing as they march down the calle in Venice. I've seen leprechans, a deck of cards, tellytubbies, and many Disney-themed costumes especially Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

 

Carnevale Stage in St. Mark's Square

 

Spraying and Being Sprayed with Shaving Cream

 

Coffee in Costume in St. Mark's Square

 

Teens as Tellytubbies

 

The more fancy costumes in the Square

 

 

St. Mark's Square is party central with both young and old dressed and having fun. Several of the youngsters' pranks were quite harmless, only a little confetti thrown around, and some spraying of silly string and shaving cream. I've only been doused with a few handfuls of confetti. I was expecting worse. Actually, the kids who were spraying the shaving cream were very careful to get it only on each other.

 

Besides St. Mark's Square, Campo San Polo had its own festivities for the day and previous weekend with an ice skating rink set up and vendors from many other regions in Italy selling their food. My lunch consisted of a porchetta sandwich from Tuscany, olives and mozzarella from Puglia and almond paste cookies from Sicily.

 

Ice Skating in Costume in Campo San Polo

 

Porchetta from Tuscany

 

Sausage from Piedmont

 

Cheese from Piedmont

 

Food from Puglia

 

Tonight Carnevale and Martedi Grasso festivities will end with a candlelit parade along the Grand Canal at midnight. I'll have photos from that parade (hoping they come out) later tomorrow.

Tasting Venice - A Food Tour with Monica Cesarato

 

Another absolutely gorgeous day in Venice, and I had the great pleasure of spending the afternoon with Monica Cesarato, a Venetian and Venetian food afficianado. Monica writes a blog about Venice and owns and runs the Faronhof bed and breakfast, outside of Venice. She also is one of the two people who run Cook in Venice, where they offer Venetian cooking courses and food tours in Venice. Our plan for the afternoon was to eat a lot of cicheti. The day was so warm and sunny, we veered off course a little, walking along Zattere and stopping for a gelato (yes, it was that warm). Instead of just cicheti, I learned a lot more about the food in Venice.

 

 

 

Venetian Carnival Treats

Since it is Carnival time, we did a lot of talking about the fried foods treats of Carnival. I have seen the round "doughnuts"(frittelle) in five different variations. The three most typical are alla Veneziana (with rum soaked sultanas and pine nuts), filled with pastry cream, and filled with Zabajon (zabaglione). I've also seen them filled with cream chantilly (sweetened whipped cream). On our walk, we also found some filled with Nutella. There were also sliced apple rings dipped in frittelle batter and fried that I found at Tonolo Pasticceria. Lastly, there are Kraffen. These come from Austria and stayed in Venice after the Austrians left.

Fritelle with Zabaglione, Venetian Style, and with Pastry Cream

 

Fritelle with Nutella

 

Kraffen - (came with the Austrians) filled with pastry cream

 

Fried Apples Dipped in the Frittelle batter before frying

 

 

Venetian Sweets

On our walk, Monica also gave me a lesson on some of the other sweets that fill the pastry windows in Venice. One thing I noticed was that the same cookie were called different names in different pasticcerie windows. The Venetian dialect is still very strong in the city, and that's the reason for the two types of spelling for the same foods.

Zaletti (also Zaeti) Cookies

These cookies that are between are a sort of crunchy cake are made with corn flour, which gives them their yellow color. The name comes from Venetian dialect for yellow.

 

Bussola (also Bussolai) Cookies from Burano

Bussole are ring shaped shortbread cookies, with a little lemon zest added, and come from the island of Burano. I also saw these cookies with little chocolate chips in them. Monica told me she was a purist when it came to recipes, so I think she might not approve of the chocolate chip filled cookies, but they looked good this chocolate-chip cookie loving girl.

Pinza (also Pincia) - A kind of Bread Pudding

Monica explained Pinza as a kind of a bread pudding, made with corn flour, where you put whatever you have leftover into the mixture. This pinza had sultanas. She also suggested I buy a Venetian cookbook, A Toea coi Nostri Veci. It's traditional Venetian food. The only problem is that the book is written in Venetian dialect. (Monica, I'll be emailing you frequently for help ;-) I bought the book and plan to make and share several recipes from it.

 

Tiramisu

Of course, there is Tiramisu. We had a nice discussion about this dish, which is actually from Treviso (not Venice, but nearby). Monica, being the purist, said you cannot call it Tiramisu unless the eggs are raw. I knew I took liberties with my recipe, making a French bombe and cooking the eggs by whipping in cooked sugar, but she also didn't like my idea of adding melted chocolate to the espresso. Oh well, I might have to change the name of my recipe and make a new "original" version of tiramisu here.

 

Cicheti (cicchetti) and Ombra

Cicheti and Ombra are all the rage now, but at one time the person who went out for an ombra was considered a wino. Ombra means shadow. Legend has it that the little tumblers of wine that go with the finger food, known as cicheti, gets its name from the old wine sellers. They would move their barrels/carts to be under the shade, keeping the wine cool. Ombra can also be the "shade" or small bit of wine you get in those small tumblers.

Cicheti is another word that I've seen spelled two different ways. Monica let me know that cicheti (pronounced chee-keh-tee) is the Venetian spelling and cicchetti is the Italian spelling. Both are correct, and both are used throughout the city. We had cicheti at La Cantina Carbonera Vecia. Monica also gave me a list of other cicchetterie that she likes. I'll have more for you soon on all the cicheti I've been tasting.

 

Chocolate and Hazelnut Gelato from Nico

 

Carnival

During our walk, we also talked about Carnival in Venice. Monica reminisced that when she was younger everyone would be in costume. It's dress up for people of all ages. There were less of the extravagent costumes - those are furnished by many of the costume and mask stores in the city who pay the wearers to "pose" around St. Mark's Square. Not everyone was dressed up, but all ages were definitely participating.

One of the more extravagent costumes riding in a gondola

 

Adults in Costume on a Bridge in Venice

 

 

The youngsters posing and celebrating Carnival with confetti

 

Monica's personality is quite the opposite of the devil Carnival costume she had

 

Thanks again Monica for a wonderful afternoon and for all the information on Venetian food and Carnival in Venice!

 

 

 

Related Posts:

Frittelle, Hot Chocolate and Costumes - Welcome to Carnival in Venice

Snow one Day, Sun the Next - Carnival 2011 in Venice

Martedi Grasso- Fat Tuesday in Venice

Favorite Scene's and Costumes from Venice's Carnevale 2011in Photos

Italian Hot Chocolate

Italy in Chocolate at Turin's CioccolaTo Festival

Eurochocolate Perugia - Italy's Biggest Chocolate Festival

Cicheti and Ombra - Little Tastes of Venice

Best Ways to Savor Venice

A Lesson in Venetian Mask Making

Sfogi in Saor - Venetian Style Sole in Agrodolce

Tiramisu

Snow One Day - Sun the Next - Carnevale in Venice

 

What a difference a day makes. If ever that statement was true, it was today.

Yesterday, I walked outside to this. Snow!! Let me tell you this California girl was COLD! (So cold, I started having second thoughts about coming to Venice during this time of year.) I walked through the snowfall to San Marco's Square early in the morning hoping to find a few costumed people to photograph. There was no one but others like me, camera in hand, shivering and sad.

 

Snow one day in Venice

 

Today, I walked outside and the sun was shining. Yesterday, I had four layers of clothes, a coat, two scarves (wrapped so tight that one wrong move and I might have hung myself), gloves, and ear muffs. Today, two layers was a little too warm. I even got crazy and left the ear muffs and gloves at home.

 

 

Sun the next day

 

When I got to San Marco at 8:30am, (now my daily morning ritual along with a frittella for breakfast), I was late. Crowds had already formed around the posers in costume. However, we had so many more posers today to photo. This was the Carnival that I remember from four years ago, a party in the square. Some decked out in elaborate costumes and some with only a mask. All of us making merry for the festivities.

Today may have been the most beautiful day I've ever spent in Venice. I'm so glad I came. Like they say, what a difference a day makes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems many of you enjoyed the photos of costumed Carnival-goers as much I enjoyed taking them, so I'ved added some more to this post.

 

 

 

 

Related Posts:

Frittelle, Hot Chocolate and Costumes - Welcome to Carnival in Venice

Italian Hot Chocolate and Carnevale in Venice

Cicheti and Ombra - Little Tastes of Venice

Best Ways to Savor Venice

A Lesson on Venetian Mask Making

Sfogi in Saor - Venetian-Style Sole in Agrodolce Sauce

Best Places to Kiss in Italy

 

 

 

 

 

Fritelle, Hot Chocolate and Costumes - Welcome to Carnival in Venice

Carnival in Venice. I’m here! I still have no exact knowledge of the time. Right now, I only know that it’s night because it’s dark outside. Three plane rides later and crossing at least five time zones on little sleep, somehow I still managed to wake up early enough to get out and about as the kids were going to school this morning.

“Get to St. Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge early in the morning. That’s when many of the costumed Carnevale-goers will be out for photos." That’s what a few people told me and what I did. Actually, because the clock on the TV in my apartment is one-hour fast, I arrived in the square earlier than planned, around 7:30am. I and a group of maybe 20 others had the costumed posers and Saint Mark’s square all to ourselves. Well almost, there were hundreds of pigeons to annoy keep us company.

 

After some photos, I needed to warm up. My fingers were blue. Sometimes my legs felt as though they were frozen, too, and wouldn't move. It’s not snowing, but the wind is blowing through Venice’s campos faster than those pigeons will swarm on the smallest dropped crumb.

Breakfast was a cioccolata calda at Il Café on Campo Francesco Morosini. Yes, that same hot chocolate that inspired this Italian hot chocolate recipe. Later some fritelle from Pasticceria Ballarin. Fritelle seemed to be the breakfast of choice for everyone. I’ve found 3 varieties. The traditional Fritella Veneziana with raisins and pine nuts and rolled in granulated sugar. There are also fritelle alla crema (with pastry cream) and fritelle alla zabaglione (with Sabayon). If the sugar high from the hot chocolate wasn’t enough, the fritelle (one traditional and one with crema) certainly gave me the energy to brave the cold again. My preference, so far, is the one filled with pastry cream. I’ll do more testing tomorrow, and am hoping to find more varieties, say a chocolate pastry cream filled one.

 

Later in the day, I went back to Saint Mark’s. This time the piazza had many more photographers, ranging in expertise from those using their phones to professional photographers with foot-long lenses. The professionals even went so far as to give posing commands to those in costume. It was very much like some crazy photo shoot. With each new costume that arrived on the stage that was St. Mark’s Square, a group of camera-clad fools people (me included) swarmed around them and started clicking. Then another new costume would appear and the group with cameras would race from one to the next. George Clooney might even go unnoticed by papparzzi in favor of an even more extravagent costume.

I had to laugh, and agree, when I heard one Italian walking through the square, call it pazzesco (crazy). In any case, after 300 hundred photos (yes, it’s only my first day here), I’m pretty happy with all of the photos I have. Fried treats, thick hot chocolate and some awesome photos, yep, quite a nice welcome to Carnevale a Venezia!

I’ve shared a few of my favorite photos with you today. At the end of Carnevale, I’ll post a slideshow with all of them.

 

Sfogi in Saor - Venetian Style Sole in Agrodolce Sauce

 

 

For me, there aren't many flavors I like more than sweet and sour.  The sweet and sour I'm talking about is Italian agrodolce. The literal translation from Italian is sour sweet.  Those are the two necessary components to the sauce.  The sour is usually white wine vinegar, and the sweet is usually sugar.  Caponata, a Sicilian dish, is probably the most popular one using this sauce, but the sauce also matches marvelously with fish and meat.  It could be that I had an overdose of sweets for Valentine's Day and needed a little sour in my food.  Like a child counts the hours until Santa's arrival, I'm also counting the days to my upcoming trip to Venice.  With visions of gondole floating on canals, Carnevale costumes & masks, and seafood dishes dancing in my head, I was impatient to have a taste of Venice.

 

 
Bridge of Sighs

 

 
Carnevale Costumes in St. Mark's Square

 

 
Seafood Antipasti - with one sardine in saor in the center

 

 

  

Saor is Venetian dialect for sapore (flavor).  The saor, a combination of sweet onions and vinegar, is the marinade for the fish.  Venetians have been marinating food with onions as far back as the 14th century.  The sauce helped to preserve the fish for long voyages at sea and also helped to ward off scurvy during those same voyages.  There were no long journeys at sea or fear of scurvy for me, yet I've still managed to eat my share of saor during my past visits to Venice.

 

 
 

Although it's served year round, this dish, either with Sarde (large sardines) or Sfogi (sole) is part of the traditional feast of the Redentore festival in Venice, held the third Saturday every July.  At dusk on the night of the celebration, little boats festooned in brightly colored decorations, lanterns and baloons float out into Saint Mark's Bay and Giudecca to enjoy the fireworks display.  They moor alongside each other, and, before the fireworks start, enjoy a feast of Venetian specialties, including a saor dish, be it sarde or sfogi.

 

 
The Grand Canal and the domes of Santa Maria della Salute

 

 
 
 

 

My nearing trip to Venice is for another celebration (Carnevale), but that didn't stop my craving for this classic Venetian dish.  You can bet I'll be sampling as much sarde & sfogi in saor that I can find.  In the meantime, I thought I'd share this recipe with you. 

It's important to let the fish marinate in the saor for a minimum of 10 hours, but 2 days is better.  Because we only have sardines (little sarde) here in California, and they're not always easy to find,  I made the dish with sole instead.

 

 

 

Sfogi in Saor - Sole in Agrodolce Sauce

(adapted from the Sarde in Saor recipe in Venice Tradition and Food by Pino Agostini & Alvise Zorzi)

Serves 6 for a main course and 8 for an antipasti

 

2 pounds sole, filleted

About 1 cup all-purpose flour

About 1/2 cup olive oil, for frying, divided in half

2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste

2 medium sweet white onions, thinly sliced (about 2 cups sliced)

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1/3 cup sultanas, soaked in white wine

1/3 cup pine nuts

Lightly dredge the fillets in the flour.  Heat the olive oil in a saute pan, and saute the fillets over medium heat until both sides are golden, 3 to 4 minutes on each side.  Remove from the heat onto a paper towel to drain & sprinkle both sides with salt. 

In another saute pan, heat more olive oil.  Saute the onions on medium low heat until soft, about 10 minutes.  The onions should not change color.  Add the vinegar, sultanas, and pine nuts and cook until the vinegar has been absorbed by the onions, about 5 minutes.  Let both the sole and the saor cool.

When they both have cooled, place a layer of the sole in a glass dish.  Add a layer of the saor on top of the sole.  Add another layer of sole on top of the saor.  Continue layering the sole then saor until all the sole and saor have been used.  (You should end with a layer of saor).  Refrigerate for two days.  Serve at room temperature.  Buon Appetito!

 

This post is part of Wanderfood Wednesdays, other food-loving travelers who blog. 

 

 

 

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Italy in Books Review: The Glassblower of Murano

 

This month I wanted to go to Venice for the Italy in Books reading challenge. Could this have something to do with my upcoming trip to Venice, for Carnevale?  Maybe so. The book I chose to take me there was The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato.

The Glassblower of Venice begins in 1681 with Corradino Manin, the great maestro of Venetian glassblowers, returning to his birth city from abroad.  He reenters his city at night dressed in all black, except for his white bauta mask, setting the tone for the chapter and the story.  He drops off a book and money at an orphanage, which is obviously intended for one specific girl, and waits, knowing he will be murdered soon.  The last question he asks before the murderer sticks a Venetian glass knife into him is, "Will Leonora be safe?" The questions and the mystery begin....Who killed him? Why? Who is Leonora? What is so important about the book he left behind? 

The next chapter finds us in present-day England with Nora, (short for Leonora).  She's newly divorced and hoping to find a new life in Venice.  She moves to Venice, the place of her birth and the home of her deceased father.  Leonora plans to become a glassblower like her ancestor, Corradino.  She is successful, initally because of her name, and becomes the first woman glassblower in Venice. 

The mystery surrounding Corradino surfaces to cause Leonora problems, and ultimately her  job.  She searches for all the information on Corradino and his death, certain it will clear both her and Corradino's name.  The chapters switch between Corradino's life in Venice during the 1600s and Leonora's in present-day Venice, and the mystery behind Corradino and his death unfolds.   Also, once in Venice, Leonora finds a love interest (Being in Venice, one MUST have a love interest) which provides more conflicts to the story and to Leonora's life.  By the end of the book, the mystery is solved and Leonora's life has changed. 

 

 
Blown Glass Tree on Murano 

 

 
Entrance to a Fornace on Murano

 

I was sad to find that Corradino Manin is an entirely fictional character, although plenty of history on Venice and the art of glassblowing is infused into the story.  We also get information on the Venetian Republic and Venice's Council of Ten from the 1600s.  

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  What I liked most was how the lives and talents of these two ancestors were similar and become intertwined, even though they lived centuries apart.  Leonora is the main character, but I was more drawn to Corradino.  At times, even Leonora was more concerned with him than herself, her own father, or her lover.  Set in one of my favorite cities, it's quite an easy read involving mystery, love, and some Venetian history.  If you are interested in Venetian glassblowing, in a fictional setting, the book could also interest you. 

From the story, the book gives me a better appreciation for the art of glassblowing.  Sometimes the art gets lost behind all the bobbles for sale in the touristy souvenir shops throughout Venice.  This story reminds us that those glassblowers are also responsible for so much more; mirrors, chandeliers, and windows in Venice and beyond.  This next trip I know I will look at the windows along the Grand Canal longer and differently.  I'll search out glass chandeliers in churches and buildings, seeing if there really is that one in the Chiesa della Pieta, mentioned in the book.  When I go to the Cantina Do Mori, I'll look at the mirrors and think of Venetian glassblowers.  Now, even the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, which has a part in this book along with Louis XIV, will take my mind to Venice.

 

 

 

 

This post is part of the Italy in Books 2011 Reading Challenge.  Check out other reviews on books based in Italy: January's Italy in Books Challenge.  If you'd like to join the reading challenge, it isn't too late: Italy in Books Reading Challenge 2011.

 

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Have you read The Glassblower of Murano?  What did you think of the book?  Do you have any other books based in Venice to recommend?

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**The photo of the book cover is from the Amazon Associate program. Other photos in this post are mine, all rights are reserved, and may not be used without my permission. 

 

Related Posts:

Italy in Books: Favorite Books Based in Italy and a Challenge for 2011

Italian Hot Chocolate Recipe and Carnival in Venice

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The Italian Teacher, the Friend and a Magical Chocolate Kahlua Budino

A Lesson on Venetian Maskmaking

Burano - Jewel of the Lagoon

Lo Spritz - Happy Hour in Venice

La Bottega ai Promessi ai Sposi

Best Places to Kiss in Italy

A Twist on a Venetian Spritz and Embracing Italian Culture