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Where & What to Eat in Venice.
 Venetian Castraura |
If you are in Venice in spring, there is one delicacy you should not miss: the castraura, a vegetable available for only 6 weeks at the end of March and into April.
Although the name literally means “castrated,” it has nothing to do with La Fenice.
Castraura is the first bud of the artichoke. The Consorzio del Carciofo Violetto di Sant’Erasmo is a consortium of 20 producers on the island of Sant’Erasmo who grow these delicacies. They’re quite expensive, around 3 euros for 10, at the Rialto Market. After plucking the outer leaves, you can enjoy them raw, with simply a dash of oil and a pinch of rock salt. They are also delicious braised in the oven with a little olive oil and white wine. The secret is not to overcook them. They are sometimes served fried, but it is a bit of shame eating them that way, as they tend to lose their most delicate aromas.
Venetians are very proud of their seafood because it comes from the cleanest water of the lagoon or the Adriatic. You can safely enjoy the peoci (mussels) and canoce (shrimp) and, if you are more daring, the bovoli (sea snails) and bisato (eels) from the lagoon. But king of antipasti is the granseole, spider crab, shelled but served in its shell with a dash of olive oil and lemon. Granseole is also used in a delicious spaghetti sauce.
Spaghetti alle vongole verace is a bit of a tourist trap dish. The vongole are rarely “verace” and do you really want to eat vongole fished in front of the Mestre chemical conglomerate?
The real pasta from Venice is bigoi in salsa. Bigoi or bigoli are thick and coarse spaghetti noodles served with a sauce of lightly fried white onions and ground anchovies.
The most famous of the Venetian soups is risi e bisi (rice and peas), which the doge was obliged to eat on St Mark’s day and after a precise ritual.
In Venice, daily-fished seafood reaches the Rialto and other local markets early in the morning. It’s not a surprise then that fish is the basis of Venetian cuisine. Baccala Mantecato (creamed cod with oil, garlic, and parsley and served with polenta) is one of the most popular dishes. Next to dried cod, another one of the most ancient Venetian recipes is bisato su l'ara (eel roasted with bay leaves). Traditionally, roasting was done after work hours in the furnaces of the glass factories in Murano. Other typical dishes cannot be disregarded, such as seppie col nero (cuttlefish in their ink) and sarde in saor (fried sardines marinated with white onion). Tums or other antacid tablets are highly recommended after sarde in saor!
One of the most traditional secondi or main courses is fegato alla veneziana. The Romans used to cook their veal liver with figs to sweeten up the bitter aftertaste of the meat, but the Venetians have adopted cooking it with onions.
Fromagi and dolci are not exactly to die for in Venice, but do not miss the Scropino (see recipe), which is not a cocktail but a dessert.
Although Venetian wines are better known for their charm than for their glories, they should be drunk with Venetian specialties. The Veneto wine region is a vast area that includes the vineyards of Soave, Valpolicella, and Bardolino. Fresh, light whites are made in Soave, while reds such as Amarone (a rich, delicious "Passito" style red wine) are made in the Valpolicella region. Prosecco is made just near Venice. A crisp and slightly sparkling Prosecco can be the perfect companion for a seafood fare.
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