One of the many benefits of being in Venice often is that I have many opportunities to meet real Venetians, such as Dimitri and his sons, who run the cute bookbinding shop Karisma.
I can count on these local friends and acquaintances for insider information and to experience Venice like a local.
This post is about food, specifically authentic Venetian specialties, and the typical places where long-time residents and newcomers like to eat.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Venetian Specialties and Restaurants
Real cicchetti
Not only real Venetians eat the infamous cicchetti, the Venetian finger food. The name cicchetti comes from the Latin word ciccus, meaning small quantities, and indeed they are small Venetian specialties.
In particular, slices of bread with sliced or fried cod, including mozzarella in carrozza, breaded sardines, breaded vegetables, meatballs, squid skewers. The best cicchetti are prepared with fresh local ingredients and are seasonal.
Bacari
Bacari, traditional Venetian wine bars, serve cicchetti among other things. Bacaro comes from the old Venetian word bacarar and means to have fun, to celebrate! The most traditional bacari can be found around the Rialto Market.
The Spritz – a Venetian invention
Did you know that the Spritz was invented in Venice in the early 19th century? The name comes from the Austrians, as Venice was under Austrian occupation at the time.
Originally, only wine and water were mixed, and legend has it that around 1850, Venetians added a shot of red liqueur to the recipe as a sign of resistance against their Austrian oppressors.
There are now four versions of the drink in Venice: with bitters, with Cynar, with Select, and the most famous with Aperol.
Here’s an overview from Venetian Infographics of the different Spritz styles:
Do you want to discover Venice on your own?
Discovering Venice on your own can be an exciting and rewarding experience. A travel book will be a valuable resource where to look up historical and cultural information, as well as practical information and language tips.
Here you can find my personal recommendations on the best Venice travel guides:
Pizza, Lasagne und Carbonara?
In almost every restaurant you can find the food that is associated with Italy all over the world: Pizza, a thousand kinds of pasta, lasagna, and so on. Sure, Venice is part of Italy, but it was an independent republic for over 1,000 years.
Venice’s culinary history and heritage is quite different from the rest of Italy, in part because Venice was historically more connected to the Middle and Far East than the European continent!
You can eat good pizza in Venice, but it will not be better than in many other places on the mainland. So if you are looking for authentic Venetian specialties, this is the place to be.
A book tip for gourmets!
Venice On A Plate: But What A Plate!
Enrica Rocca’s book explores the culinary traditions of Venice, Italy, and features a collection of recipes inspired by the city’s unique cuisine.
The book is divided into sections that focus on different aspects of Venetian food culture, including fish and seafood, vegetables, meat, pasta, and desserts. Each section includes a range of recipes, as well as information on the history and cultural significance of the dishes.
Do you want to learn Italian while enjoying a coffee in Venice?
The most successful language learners get into the habit of studying on a regular basis. 50 Italian Coffee Breaks makes it easy to master a simple routine for improving your Italian by effortlessly integrating it into your soothing daily ritual – from a 5-minute espresso to a 15-minute latte.
Venetian specialties – a listing
So, what are the authentic Venetian dishes you can try in Venice? If you’re curious about Venetian cuisine but a little sensitive about traditional ingredients like offal, don’t read any further.
Venetian main dishes
- Baccalà mantecato alla venexiana – a very delicate stockfish cream, served with polpenta croutons or bread
- Fondi di carciofo – artichoke bottoms
- Musetto with horseradish – a typical winter sausage, for which mainly the meat of the pig’s head is used, together with the rind and other parts of the animal
- Trippa alla venexiana – tripe
- Seppie in nero – squid in its own ink
- Sarde in salsa – sardines in sauce
- Bigoi in salsa – Pasta with onions and cured fish
- Pasta e fasioi – pasta with bean sauce, sometimes more like bean soup with pasta
- Risi e bisi – rice with peas
- Fegato alla venexiana – liver with onions, often with polenta as a side dish
- Risotto alla zucca – Pumpkin risotto
- Risotto de go’ – mole goby risotto
- Calamari fritti – fried calamari
- Schie e polenta – Small shrimps served with soft polenta
- Lasagne con baccalà – Lasagne with stockfish
- Polpette di pesce, carne e verdure – Fish and meatballs with vegetables
- Lasagne di pesce – fish lasagna
- Fiori di zucca con mozzarella e acciuga – fried zucchini flowers with mozzarella and anchovies
- Seppioline grigliate – grilled octopus
- And much more
Here you can find the best fish restaurants in Venice:
Venetian Desserts
Venetian specialties and desserts, from Venice and surroundings
- Tiramisu was invented in Treviso, just 20 minutes by train from Venice.
- Zaeti – cornmeal and raisin biscuits; zao is the Venetian word for yellow, the color of cornmeal.
- Buranei busolai – traditional biscuits typical of the island of Burano, in the shape of a ring, but there is also a version in the shape of an S, the esse buranei.
- Pan del dose – the Doge’s bread: a sweet leavened bread with dried fruit, white wine, honey and butter
- Fugassa Venexiana – also known as “Venetian focaccia”: a sweet yeast bread, traditionally prepared and served at Easter.
- Fritoe or Frittelle Venexiane – traditional deep-fried Carnival desserts
- Galani or Crostoli – fluffy, crunchy and slightly sweet carnival treats
- Mameluchi or Mammalucchi – invented at the Pasticceria Targa, like the Crostoli they are also deep fried.
Typische venezianische Getränke
And what are typical Venetian drinks?
- Spritz – with Aperol, Select, Bitter or Cynar.
- Prosecco – the Prosecco region is very close to Venice
- Prosecco Spento – without carbonic acid
- Manzoni Bianco Venezia DOC
- Soave – a dry white wine
- Chardonnay Veneto
- Cabernet Veneto
- Not to forget the famous aperitif Bellini, invented by the Cipriani family in Harry’s Bar: Bellini is prepared with fresh white peach and Prosecco.
At this point I must confess that I am not a wine drinker and therefore my list of typical wines of the Veneto region is much shorter than it would be in reality, although Veneto is the Italian region that produces the greatest quantity and variety of wines.
Bacari, restaurants and pasticcerie and cafes recommended by me
My favorite cafes and pasticcerie
- Pasticceria Rosa Salva
- Torrefazione Cannareggio
- Pasticceria Targa
- Caffé Florian – can be quite expensive!
These are the most popular bacari among locals:
Here the restaurants with the typical Venetian specialties:
- Adriatico Mar
- La zucca
- Cantina Arnaldi
- Cantina Do Mori
- Osteria Enoteca San Marco
- La barrique wine bar
- I Do Pozzi
- Vino vero
- Luna Sentada
- Al Mariner
- Ristorante Algiubagiò
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