Venice Spice Atelier
In the last few years, frittelles have taken the culinary stage of Carnival in Venice, and there’s a good reason why they were so successful 🙂 After all, le fritoe, as frittelles are called in Venetian, have been the Venetian National Sweet ever since the 13th century. But then, frittelles, prepared in the Venetian manner, […]
When Grandmother was young – she grew up in the northern Lagoon – this was the cake her mother prepared on 24 December, but also on the morning of Epiphany Day – January 6. So to celebrate L’EPIFANIA, and LA BEFANA, of course, we are sharing this family recipe today. This is substantial food, so […]
On 31 December 2017, the sky in Venice looked pale white. You felt inundated by a strangely weak light against the marble stones, so characteristic for the short days in December and January. On such a day, the sun isn’t strong enough to draw reflections on the water. The air is very moist and can […]
It looks thick, brown and enticing. It tastes only slightly bitter and rich, velvety and dense. What’s the secret to preparing exactly this kind of cioccolata densa for which Venice has become famous in the world ? In my opinion, this is the best soul food ever invented in Venice 🙂 It has all the ingredients […]
There’s one ancient Venetian winter drink almost never mentioned in cookbooks. It seems it has disappeared at all, and yet it was so popular in Venice until 100 years ago. Dosa calda. Literally, this is a spice and fruit drink popular in Venice before vin brule became popular in town. In Venetian, vin brule means vino […]
In Venice these days, children celebrate Il santo che divise il mantello e fece tornare il bel tempo … the Saint who by sharing a piece of his coat with a beggar made the sun return to Earth. In Venice, there’s a special tradition reminding us of this Legend, enacted on 11 November every year […]
The Doges of Venice seemed to love dishes with a green touch. Even their signature dish, risi e bisi, which the Doge’s family and their entourage ate on 25 April, was green. Risi e bisi is a rather liquid risotto (all’onda) in which the baccelli (pods) of the bisi (green peas) were cooked with the peas […]
Like elsewhere, Halloween in Venice couldn’t work properly without la zucca – pumpkins decorations and dishes. But then, when my grandmother was young and the notion of Halloween wasn’t generally known in the Veneto, squashes were a staple food in late October. Especially, pumpkins were used to make delicious risotto. It seems that squashes arrived via […]
