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Parmesan Polenta with poached egg, kale and blood orange by Bakd&Raw, Karolin Silja Baitinger

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A Taste of Venice The Best Traditional Food and Dishes You Need to Try

A Taste of Venice 

The Best Traditional Food and Dishes You Need to Try

Cicchetti are the soul of Venetian food culture, small savory bites served at the counter of a bacaro alongside a glass of wine or a spritz. Similar in spirit to Spanish tapas but distinctly Venetian in character, cicchetti range from simple slices of bread topped with baccalà mantecato or sardines to more elaborate preparations involving polpette (meatballs), fried vegetables, crostini with various toppings, hard-boiled eggs, and tiny sandwiches known as tramezzini. The ritual of going from bacaro to bacaro in the early evening, grazing on cicchetti and sipping ombra wine, is the most authentic and enjoyable way to eat in Venice and one of the most pleasurable food experiences in all of Italy.

Baccalà mantecato is perhaps the single most quintessentially Venetian dish, a creamy, silky spread made from dried salt cod that has been slowly poached and then whipped with olive oil until it reaches a light, mousse-like consistency. Served on slices of grilled polenta or crostini as a cicchetto, baccalà mantecato is deeply flavorful, rich without being heavy, and utterly addictive. The dish has its origins in the centuries-old Venetian trade in dried cod from Norway, and the tradition of preparing it has been passed down through generations of Venetian families and bacaro cooks. Seek it out at any good bacaro in the city.

Sarde in saor is one of the oldest and most beloved dishes in the Venetian culinary tradition, a preparation of fried sardines marinated in a sweet and sour sauce of onions, vinegar, raisins, and pine nuts that reflects the influence of the Arab and Byzantine spice trade on the Venetian kitchen. The dish is typically prepared a day or two in advance to allow the flavors to develop and deepen, and the combination of the rich fried fish with the sweet, sour, and aromatic marinade is extraordinarily satisfying. Sarde in saor is found in virtually every bacaro in Venice and is an essential first stop on any cicchetti crawl through the city.

Risotto al nero di seppia, black risotto with cuttlefish ink, is one of the most dramatic and delicious dishes in the Venetian repertoire and one of the most recognizable symbols of the city's seafood-dominated cuisine. The jet-black color comes from the ink of the cuttlefish, which is incorporated into the risotto along with pieces of tender cuttlefish to create a dish of extraordinary depth and oceanic flavor. The combination of the creamy, al dente rice and the intensely savory ink sauce is deeply satisfying, and the visual drama of a plate of perfectly black risotto arriving at the table never fails to impress. This is a dish that must be tried in Venice.

Polenta is the starchy foundation of the Venetian table, a preparation of coarsely ground cornmeal cooked slowly in water or broth until it reaches a soft, porridge-like consistency. In Venice and the wider Veneto region, white polenta made from white corn is the traditional variety and the preferred accompaniment to fish, seafood, and meat dishes alike. Polenta is served soft and creamy alongside main courses, or allowed to set and then sliced and grilled as the base for cicchetti toppings in the bacari. It is a simple and deeply comforting food that is so fundamental to Venetian cuisine that a meal without it often feels somehow incomplete.

a plate of gourmet rabbit dish sitting on wood counter

Bigoli in salsa is one of the most characteristic and traditional pasta dishes of the Venetian kitchen, a simple but deeply flavorful combination of bigoli, a thick spaghetti-like pasta made with whole wheat flour and traditionally produced by pressing the dough through a special instrument called a bigolaro, served with a sauce of slowly cooked onions and anchovies. The combination sounds humble but the result is remarkably complex and satisfying, with the onions melting into a sweet, silky base that perfectly complements the intense saltiness of the anchovies. Bigoli in salsa is a deeply traditional Venetian dish and one of the most honest and satisfying plates of pasta in the city.

Moeche are one of Venice's most prized and seasonal delicacies, soft-shell crabs harvested from the lagoon during the brief spring and autumn periods when the green crabs of the lagoon shed their shells. The crabs are deep-fried whole and eaten entire, shell and all, with a crisp, golden exterior and a sweet, rich interior that is unlike any other seafood experience. Moeche are only available for a few weeks each year and are eagerly anticipated by Venetians and food lovers alike. Finding them on a bacaro or restaurant menu is a sign that you are eating in the right place at the right time, and trying them is one of the most authentically Venetian food experiences it is possible to have.

The fish soups of Venice, prepared with the extraordinary variety of fish, shellfish, and crustaceans drawn from the lagoon and the Adriatic, are among the most warming and flavorful dishes in the Venetian culinary tradition. Each recipe varies by family and by restaurant, but the best versions combine a deeply flavorful broth made from fish bones and heads with a generous selection of whole fish, clams, mussels, prawns, and other seafood, served with grilled bread rubbed with garlic. A proper Venetian fish soup is a meal in itself and one of the most satisfying and nourishing things you can eat in the city, particularly in the cooler months of autumn and winter.

Fegato alla veneziana, Venetian-style calf's liver, is one of the most celebrated and iconic meat dishes in the Venetian culinary tradition, a simple but extraordinarily flavorful preparation of thinly sliced calf's liver cooked quickly in a pan with slowly caramelized white onions, white wine, and sage. The sweetness of the onions balances the richness of the liver in a way that is deeply satisfying and very typically Venetian in its combination of contrasting flavors. Served with a soft mound of white polenta, fegato alla veneziana is one of the most honest and deeply traditional plates of food you can eat in Venice and a dish that has been feeding the city for centuries.

Fritto misto di mare, a mixed fry of small fish, squid, prawns, and other seafood, is one of the most enjoyable and beloved dishes in the Venetian seafood repertoire and one of the most satisfying ways to experience the extraordinary variety of creatures that the Adriatic and the lagoon produce. The best versions use only the freshest catch of the day, lightly dusted in flour and fried in clean oil until golden and crisp, and served immediately with a wedge of lemon and nothing more. A well-executed fritto misto di mare is one of the simplest and most perfect plates of food Venice has to offer.

The Spritz Veneziano is the defining drink of Venice and the Veneto region, a bittersweet aperitivo cocktail made with prosecco, a splash of sparkling water, and either Aperol or the more intensely bitter Select, the liqueur that is the traditional Venetian choice. Served over ice with a slice of orange and an olive, the Spritz has become one of the most popular cocktails in the world, but drinking it in Venice, standing at a bacaro counter in the early evening as the canals glow in the fading light, is to experience it in its truest and most perfect form. The ritual of the aperitivo hour in Venice, with a spritz in hand and a plate of cicchetti within reach, is one of the great pleasures of visiting the city.

An ombra, meaning shadow or shade, is a small glass of local wine traditionally drunk standing at the counter of a bacaro, the name supposedly deriving from the practice of Venetian wine vendors following the shadow of the Campanile in Piazza San Marco to keep their wine cool in the days before refrigeration. The ombra is the fundamental unit of Venetian social drinking, and going for an ombra with friends or colleagues in the late afternoon is one of the most deeply ingrained rituals of Venetian daily life. The wines most commonly served as an ombra are the light, crisp whites of the Veneto and Friuli wine regions, perfectly suited to the maritime climate and the seafood-dominated cuisine of the city.

Baicoli are a traditional Venetian biscuit, a thin, oval, twice-baked sweet cracker with a delicate, crisp texture and a subtle buttery flavor that has been produced in Venice for centuries. The name comes from the Venetian dialect word for a type of small fish, a reference to the biscuit's oval shape. Baicoli are traditionally served alongside a cup of coffee or a glass of sweet wine and are still produced by several traditional Venetian bakeries and pasticcerie. They make for a wonderful and distinctly local edible souvenir to bring home from Venice.

Zaleti are traditional Venetian cornmeal cookies, small and diamond-shaped biscuits made with white polenta flour, raisins, pine nuts, and a splash of grappa, with a distinctive golden color and a coarser, more rustic texture than most Italian pastries. The name means little yellow ones in Venetian dialect, a reference to the golden hue of the polenta flour. Zaleti are found in traditional pasticcerie across Venice and are one of the most characterful and distinctly local sweet treats the city has to offer. They are excellent with an afternoon coffee or a small glass of dessert wine.

While tiramisù is now one of the most famous and widely reproduced Italian desserts in the world, it has deep roots in the Veneto region and is claimed with particular pride by the city of Treviso, just inland from Venice. The combination of savoiardi biscuits soaked in strong espresso, layered with a rich cream of mascarpone, eggs, and sugar, and dusted with cocoa powder is as deeply satisfying and perfectly balanced today as it was when the dessert was first created. In Venice, a well-made tiramisù at a good traditional restaurant or pasticceria is one of the most enjoyable and quintessentially northeastern Italian ways to end a meal.

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