Spritz and Cicchetti
Throughout Venice it's easy to find traditional wine and food in the small traditional wine bars called bacari that serve cicchetti (pronounced chikhetteh) which are sort of like tapas – Venetian style - small nibbles of seasonal bite-sized tastes. Some of the best local food.
Bacari are usually pretty small establishments with only a couple of seats so the idea is to buy yourself an ombra (glass of wine) or a spritz and choose a few cicchetti to nibble on while you stand either inside or outside and enjoy some true venetian ambiente.
You will find cicchetti made from tiny panini
(sandwiches), meatballs, marinated vegetables, croquettes, olives, cured meat and other familiar goodies.
But some of the traditional cicchetti are a little unfamiliar to some of us, so I have tried to not be too scared to try some of them, in particular those made from the delicious fresh seafood purchased daily from the one thousand year old Rialto Market as this is the basis of a great deal of Venetian food and therefore cicchetti.
Here are a few that you will typically come across:
Sarde in Saor (sweet and sour sardines) which are delicious, an ancient fishermans’ recipe updated during the Renaissance with the addition of raisins and pine nuts.
Baccala (creamed dried cod) a recipe stolen in the fifteenth century after one of the intrepid Venetian sea captains was shipwrecked in Norway. Served on crostini.
Polpo (baby octopus) found all over Europe, these are whole and tiny, if you don’t look or think about it too much, they are delicious.
Now, the ombra, the whole of the Veneto has been famous for beautiful wines since the time of the ancient Greeks. It’s the home of dry white Soave, Pinot Grigio and sparkling Prosecco, all delicious and cool on a warm evening. Valpolicella, Amarone and Bardolino reds are wonderful when it is cooler.
Many of the bacari have their own wines which are certainly worth trying. It's much more exciting to be adventurous!
But, Spritz is the classic, vibrant orange Venetian aperitif, enjoyed over lunch, before dinner or any time really.
A Spritz is constructed of three parts Prosecco, two parts Aperol or Campari and one part sparkling mineral water. Served over ice with a slice of orange and an olive.
There are many versions with different proportions but this is how we make a spritz!
So wander off. Get lost in Venice! Just keep walking. Go where there doesn’t seem to be any one. You will find lots of bacari. It is always easy to get home, look out for the signs to Rialto or San Marco. They will never be far.
