PIZZA PIZZA AND MORE PIZZA

Pizza Margherita by Sami Keinänen

Raised, Neapolitan style, or flat, Roman style. Simple, with tomato and oregano, or overloaded with ingredients, from eggs to ham, from vegetables to seafood. Cooked in a traditional wood oven or in the oven at home. In slices or round, to take away or eaten in old historical places with paper tablecloths. Italian par excellence. So much so that it kept its name in the world with no translation. From America to Japan, there is only one way to say it: Pizza.

Pizza is definitely one of the most loved dishes, not only in Italy, but all over the world. Pizza is a delicacy that has its basis in a mixture of water, flour and yeast, worked up to get a flat shape, baked and seasoned with different various ingredients.

Although pizza is considered a “modern” food because nowadays it is consumed at such large extent, its origins sink the roots in the mists of time.

Pizza throwing by Daveybot

The history of pizza began when primitive men learned to extract flour from wheat, as a kind of rough flour, made by crushing the beans, mix it with water to get a loaf and bake it on the fire. The true origin of pizza is still very uncertain: as well as Naples, other cities claim its paternity but the first written records of the word “pizza” dates back to the vulgar Latin of Gaeta in 997.

Even in antiquity, however, flat breads, leavened or not, were used by the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. The etymology of the name “pizza” seems to go back to the Latin verb “pinsere“, meaning crushing or from the Greek word “pita”. Pizza is a kind of bread and it comes in countless variations and derivations, changing name and characteristics according to different traditions. In particular, in some areas of Central Italy, it is called “pizza” any kind of baked cake, sweet or savory, tall or flat.

It seems certain, however, that the word “pizza” comes from Naples. Pizza was born by the inspiration of Naples, when they decided they wanted to make their flat bread more tasteful, adding garlic, lard and salt, or, in the most “rich” version, cheese and basil. But the real breakthrough came with the introduction in Europe of the tomato, which is essential in modern pizza.

Pizza Margherita by jillmotts

Imported from Peru in Europe by the Spanish colonizers after the discovery of America, the tomato was first used in cooking as a sauce cooked with salt and basil and only later the Neapolitans used it to fill their bread making it more tasty. The history of pizza as we know it, began in the second half of 1800 with the birth of the classic pizza “tomato and mozzarella” that immediately became famous, not only in the Neapolitan capital, but also in America thanks to the multitude of Italian emigrants. The moment of greatest splendor for the pizza was in 1889 on the occasion of the visit in Naples of the then rulers of Italy, King Umberto I and Queen Margherita.

Legend has it that the best pizza maker in Naples, Raffaele Esposito created for this special event three different type of pizzas: the pizza mastunicola, with lard, cheese and basil, the pizza Marinara with tomato, garlic, olive oil, oregano and the pizza “tomato and mozzarella”, with tomato, olive oil, mozzarella and oregano, whose colors intentionally recalled the Italian flag. After tasting all three, the Queen remained entranced by the last one and wanted to praise the pizza maker in writing for what he had created. Grateful, in return he decided to call the pizza as his beloved queen: Margherita.

For many years the pizza was purely a southern food but after the end of World War II and with the thousands of immigrants who moved to the new economic triangle Rome-Milan-Genoa, customs, traditions and gastronomy from southern Italy mingled with those of the North. In the period from the 60s onwards, the north became aware of the great potential of pizza and pizzerias started to bloom in all cities and in all regions like Lombardy, Trentino, Veneto and Tuscany, so that over time, there began to be more pizzerias in the north than in the south. The first pizzeria opened in Venice in 1947, just behind Piazza San Marco.

Today, the pizza, the most widely known food, consumed in every country in the world without distinction, and envied by all, has become undoubtedly one of the most famous symbol of Italian cuisine abroad.

Spreading the dough in the form of a disc can be done with the use of the rolling pin or, preferably, by hand turning and pulling the balls of leavened dough on a work surface or with air maneuvers. Specialists of the latter method are the acrobatic pizzaioli.

Recipe

Some considerations for the choice of the main ingredients: flour shall be to type 00, because it is more workable and the dough is softer and more elastic. The water must have a constant temperature of between 6 and 12 degrees. The secret to a good pizza is the high cooking temperature.

Pizza dough by joshbouse

- 1/2 litre of water

- 1 kg of flour 00

- 10 g of fresh yeast (4 gr dry one)

- 25 g of sea salt

Dissolve half of the water with the salt. Dissolve the other half with the yeast (use two separate containers). Pour half of the flour in the container with salt and water and the other half in the one with the yeast. Mix separately until the two doughs are soft, then mix the two dough until they are well mixed, elastic. Avoid always to put in close contact salt and yeast because the first prevents the second from performing its raising function. Divide the dough in small balls (one for each pizza you wish to make). Leave to rest the small balls for 3 hours in a warm place (23 degrees).

Take one of the balls, spread out with your hand to form a disk. Spread with tomato sauce, and leave to rest for 1 hour. Cook at 250 degree (maximum temp) for 15 minutes without cheese, then add the mozzarella and all the ingredients you want to add to the pizza. Cook for another 10-15 minutes.

We offer pizza cooking classes, even though it is not a typical Venetian dish, but we love it so much!!!! Just send us an email info@cookinvenice.com and we will send you all the information.

Rice and Risotto

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Riso Vialone nano by Regione Veneto

In the Po valley rice paddies enjoy homogeneous climatic and environmental conditions, but only around the City of Verona a particular quality of rice has developed: the Vialone Nano Veronese, who obtained the IGP first in Italy and then in Europe. This particular variety, which is characterized by semi-long round grain, grows in the spring areas between Bovolone, Buttapietra, Erbè, Isola della Scala, Nogarole Rocca, Sanguinetto, Sorgà and Vigasio, where you can still see the canals – built in the sixteenth century – the old rice factories, the barns and the granaries.

In Vicenza, following the land reclamation of the twentieth century in which the areas, rich in water, were greatly reduced, the rice crop is present in small quantities in small areas and the varieties grown in this area are the Vialone nano and the Carnaroli.

In Polesine (the valley of the Po, in the province of Rovigo) there is also a long tradition of rice cultivation, once concentrated in the irrigation areas and in the valleys of the Delta del Po, including Ariano, Loreo and Porto Tolle. Today the production is concentrated in the Lower Polesine, where, however, the process of husking is not executed. The cultivated varieties are the Vialone and Carnaroli.

Brown rice by Dietaland

After harvesting, the rice undergoes a series of operations before being sold: the unripe grains are discarded and the rice is shelled (husking), in other words, the outer covering of the grain is removed. What remains is called brown rice (or semi-raw). The grains of brown rice appear dark as they are coated with a thin layer which, in the operation of refining, is eliminated. The rice is whitened so that it is more attractive to the consumer. With the elimination of the outer layer, unfortunately, rice loses most of its nutritional value: proteins, minerals, vitamins and fats. Brown rice is very nutritious and healthy, and much more digestible than other grains. But white rice remains still the most popular rice.

In Venetian cuisine rice is proposed and combined in dozens of different ways, especially in risotto and soups.

Among the most typical dishes of Italian cuisine and especially the Venetian one, the risotto – thanks to the spread of rice cultivation in the Pianura Padana – has carved itself a leading role and it is traditionally served as a recipe for the holidays.

The reason is not hard to imagine: its preparation requires care, but the result is a refined and tasty first course, which can exalt the capacity of cook and entertain the guests. The risotto, also enhances the versatility of rice that can be matched to an extreme variety of flavors: vegetables, cheeses, meats and fish. The extreme variety of recipes is linked to the availability in the pantry and natural resources, rather than the desire for an ever-changing menu.

Here are two simple but delicious typical recipes from Veneto.

Risi e Bisi

(rice soup with peas)

Risi e Bisi

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE:

250 gr. Small peas, 200 gr. Vialone nano Rice, 60 gr. Pancetta, 60 gr. Butter, olive oil, 1 onion, 1 glove garlic, broth

Fry onion gently in a pan with some olive oil and butter, then add the peas. Cook gently with some broth and then add the pancetta. Cook at high flame. Cook until the peas are cooked. Aside bring some broth to boil, add the rice and as at half way through cooking add the peas and pancetta. Cook for another 10 minutes, this is a soup not a risotto, so it must be very liquid. At the end of cooking, add the chopped parsley , salt, pepper and lots of Parmisan cheese.

Risotto di Zucca

INGREDIENTS FOR 6 PEOPLE:

500 gr rice, Arborio or Vialone Nano, 400 gr. Pumpkin, 1 sliced white onion, 100 gr butter, 80 gr. Parmisan cheese, 1 litre of broth, oil, salt

PREPARATION:

Risotto di zucca

Cut the pumpkin in small cubes after you have taken off the seeds and the shell. Fry gently in half the butter the chopped onion and then add the pumpkin and leave to cook for 10 minutes adding 2 large spoons of broth.Then add the rice and keep adding the broth each time it is absorbed by the rice. Once the rice is well cooked, take the pan off the stove and add the remaining butter, the grated cheese and then serve.

Sarde in Saor by our reader Rosalba

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We got to know Rosalba through Facebook: we have got a few friends in common and as time went by we started to exchange comments, recipes and photos! She told us she loved our Sarde in Saor recipe so much so that we asked her to be the first of our readers to recount her experience on trying out one of our recipes. We love to hear from students (people who took our cooking classes) and our readers on how our recipes can be reproduced outside of Venice! If you want to show us your photos and comments about any of our recipes which you have tried out, please just send us an email to info@cookinvenice.com and we will be happy to publish it, not matter what the results were: success or fail! Nobody is born a perfect cook!

This is what Rosalba Masi-Clark had to say:

Sarde in Saor by Rosalba Masi-Clark

I am a Fish Wholesaler in the UK and a food lover. I especially love fish and shellfish and I never tire of finding new ways of preparing and cooking my own produce. Having already tried one of the recipes in your blog, namely the Baccalà Mantecato, and found it easy and delicious, it was about time to venture on another recipe. I was receiving that evening a sample consignment of Cornish sardines, so the Sarde in Saòr was the obvious choice. It all seemed so simple, and I had all the ingredients bar the white onions, and decided to give it a go anyway.

Sarde in saor while they marinate by Rosalba Masi-Clark

I left them to marinade for 48 hours and they were delicious and wonderfully delicate. I will be preparing this recipe again and again. Thank you Monica. I am not usually a blog follower, but I have come to love your blog.

Thank you so much Rosalba, it was very nice to hear that such an old recipe can be so easily reproduced even if you are not here in Venice, since the ingredients are virtually available worldwide: sardines, onions and vinegar! Can’t wait for you to try out some more!

Arianna and Monica

Cook in Venice

The most famous top 10 Venetian dishes

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Fish

Veneto is a pretty rich region under many aspects, above all the gastronomic one. It is easy to see why, given that it is a region that for centuries had commercial relations with distant lands, such as the East (land in which the Venetians learned the use of spices) and Northern Europe. The four key points of Venetian cuisine are: polenta, cod, rice and beans.

Let’s see now the top 10 most famous and delicious Venetian dishes, known all over the world.

Sarde in Saor

1- We start with the notorious Sarde in Saor, sweet and sour sardines. The Saor is the preparation of a dish that sees the mixing of sweet, sour and salty, usually achieved with a combination of a main ingredient, onions and vinegar.

2- Local expression of pasta are bigoli, very thick and coarse spaghetti, usually seasoned with fish or game sauces. The most famous combination is Bigoli in Salsa, a salted sardine and onion sauce, one of the oldest recipes of Venice.

Risi e Bisi

3- Rice and risotto are one of the main staples of Venice and Veneto and the first dish that comes to mind in this case is the famous Risi e bisi (rice and peas), the consistency being a mix between a soup and a risotto. Risotto in Veneto is also prepared with bruscandoli and radicchio from Treviso. The Veneto is a land of radicchio, with many different delicious varieties.

Baccalà mantecato

4- Cod was introduced to Venice in 1431, when a Venetian captain brought it back to the city after a long stay in Norway. Venetian fell immediately in love with the dried cod and found many ways to cook it, the most international known is Baccalà Mantecato, a creamy soft mousse like dish, mainly served with polenta. All Osterie in Venice offer their version of this very old recipe.

5- The beans of Lamon, in the province of Belluno in the Dolomites is the main ingredient for another world-known recipe, Pasta e Fasioi or Pasta e Fagioli. The Venetian version is not spicy at all, rather more like a creamy pudding, more than a soup and it is usually served with ditalini, which means “little thimbles” in Italian, a small soup pasta.

6- The Fegato alla Veneziana is a second course of Venetian origin, also popular in the rest of Italy for its intense flavor and its unique aroma of onion. At the time of the ancient Romans, the liver was cooked with figs in an attempt to conceal its distinctive odor then later the Venetians replaced the figs with onions, managing to achieve a really delicious dish. The Venetian liver is one of the best known and appreciated preparations of Venetian cuisine, a recipe which is easy to reproduce back home and it is also very economical. Traditionally the liver in question is of beef, in particular of veal.

Polenta

7- Polenta was introduced in Venice after the discovery of America, but it soon became the main staple of the Republic, very often substituting bread on Venetian tables. Polenta e osei is one of the most typical Venetian dishes, even if a bit unusual for most: the little birds (such as larks and throstles) are cooked on a spit over a fire in the fireplace or in a pan with bacon and sage and served with their sauce on a bed of hot freshly made polenta

8- And with polenta flour you can also make the Zaleti, the most famous and traditional of all Venetian cakes. These cookies. recognizable by the warm yellow color and the coarse look, due to the maize flour, were typical of the Carnival in Venice, but now they can be found in all the pastry shops and bakeries all year round and are also considered as bringing good luck.

Frittelle

9- The most famous traditional Carnival sweet is for sure Frittelle, little sweet fried dumplings, which used to be fried and sold on the streets of Venice by the fritoleri since the Middle ages. they can be prepared with raisins or as soft bignè and filled with creme patissere or zabaione.

tiramisù

10- Last but not least, the most famous of all cakes (maybe in the world??): Tiramisù. Tiramisù finds its origins in Treviso, only few decades ago, in the ’80s, when it was invented by Ada Campeol of the restaurant “alle Beccherie” in Treviso, who created a fresh energy dessert to sustain her while she was nursing her son. She used ladyfingers, coffee, mascarpone cheese and the beaten eggs with the sugar to make the “tiramesù”, later translated by the Venetian dialect in Italian with “tiramisù”. The cake was a huge success, so much so that every year we celebrate the day of Tiramisu, on January 17th, and chefs from all over the world will compete in the recipe.

And now all you have to do is coming over to Venice and sample all of these delicacies!

Venetian Bread History

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Venetian Breads by Veniceonair

Throughout the city of Venice there are at least a dozen streets, porticoes, squares called “del Pistor”: from San Marco to Santa Croce, from San Polo to Cannaregio, from Castello to Dorsoduro, and even at the Lido, in Burano and the Giudecca. At the time of the Serenissima the Pistori were the craftsmen who kneaded and shaped the bread, very different from the Forneri (bakers), also called pancogoli or panicuocoli who were those baking the bread.

The word Pistor comes from the Latin “pistor-oris”, which means “those who grind the grain.” You could enter in the Art of Pistori from the age of 12 and the period of “apprenticeship” lasted from 5 to 7 years. The two crafts, Pistori and Forneri, were always taught in the separate “schole” (schools) and the Pistori were further divided into two communities, the Lombard and the German. The oldest Guild dates back to 1333. The headquarters of the School changed several times, from the Church of Ss. Giovanni e Paolo to that of Santo Stefano (1528), then to the church of Sant’Aponal and then to S. Matteo di Rialto and finally at the school of the Albanians in S. Maurizio, where the Pistori moved in 1780 and remained there until the suppression of their art, which took place under the rule of Napoleon.

Rosetta by Angela mela Blog

If you visit the church of San Marco you can notice in some of its beautiful mosaics the form of bread which the Venetians consumed in their homes in the twelfth century: the bread is not very big, and it looks like snails. The shape and the name “bovolo” have been handed down over the centuries and still exists today in Venice in modern bakeries. There was then in Venice the “pan bianco” (white bread), made with sifted white flour and also the “pan traverso”, made with whole wheat flour. The Pistori could not by law cook the two types of bread in a single oven – the Venetian law forbade it sternly. In Venetian dialect two pieces of bread are also called “ciope” – the name derives from the fact that the shape of the bread resembles that of the buttocks. One of the most popular forms of bread in Venice are certainly the “rosette“, a bread very light, very leavened, round, flower-shaped with a central button and petals around. As time went by the “German bread” arrived in the city, and from this were born the “montasù” and “Dressa”, which had the characteristic to be polished with the beaten egg and was produced with milk and lard.

The bread was an essential food for the sustenance of the population, so the Serenissima closely monitored the production chain: the flour, the dough, the cooking, the weight and the price. For this purpose an office was established, called “Ad bullam panis”. The grain for bread had to be transported to the mills for grinding by the same Pistori on boats owned by them, the wheat had to be the type allowed by the Government. The Forneri baked the bread and could even sell it, independently and on behalf of others.

Montasu by la cucina incantata

The masters were allowed to rent up to two ovens and also have a license to cook the famous “ pan biscotto”, a very hard toasted bread which was used as rations for the troops on land and sea, for its long life characteristic. The furnaces preparing this bread were managed directly by the state. Since the 15th century for the preparation of this bread were employed mostly German bakers, under the direct supervision of the greatest maritime authorities. And the pan biscotto produced there looked like it had the property to be preserved indefinitely. The Serenissima built 34 ovens for “pan biscotto” on the island of Sant’Elena and the qualities of preservation of this bread were so impressive that in 1821 in Candia a small deposit of this bread was discovered, dating back to the period when the island had been left to the Turks in 1669 and it was apparently still edible and pleasant to eat. The pan biscotto was used by sailors and soldiers, immersed in pieces in a hot soup. This method of dipping the bread into the liquid was called in Venice “frisopo” (at home you could also use hot milk or broth or mosto).

Each Pistoria was obliged to display the daily price of the product. There were numerous checks and the bread that did not comply with the rules, was cut into pieces and thrown down the steps of the Rialto Bridge, and if the weight was less than the amount due a fine of a penny per piece was imposed, if it had other defects it was seized. In the case of particular needs of the population, there existed an obligation to bake emergency bread.

GALANI, deliciously crumbling sweets for Carnival in Italy

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Galani

A typical dessert of the Venice Carnival, but with origins much older than Frittelle, are the GALANI. If the Venetians have no doubt in recognizing the Republic of Venice as the birthplace of these sweets, the Tuscans swear that they are their invention and call them “cenci” (rags) or “chiacchiere” (chatter). And so, every region, christen them with their own name claiming in this way the paternity: from the “lattughe” (lettuce) in Brescia, to the “bugie” (lies) in Piedmont and Liguria, from the “frappe” or “flappe” in Umbria to the “sfrappole” in Romagna. All these names for one very sweet thin ribbon-shaped dessert with very ancient origins.

Galani by Cook In Venice

In fact it is thought that, to trace the origin of these sweets, we should look back to the times of the Romans, who, during the Spring Festival, used to prepare, with the same mixture with which they made lasagne, some cakes very similar to the modern galani, fried in pork fat and then covered with honey, known as crostoli. In Venice from January until the end of the Carnival you can find frittelle and galani in any pastry shop and bakery.

But you must realize that there is a subtle difference, not so much in the dough, as in the thickness of the dough and the form, between the crostoli and galani. The crostoli, in fact, are mostly rectangular, simple, perhaps a sign of their ancient tradition, often made less “rough” with the curling edge obtained by cutting the dough with the toothed wheel. Although prepared with the same recipe, the galani, typical of the city of Venice, are strips of very very thin pasta cut in the form of ribbons, long or short, before being dipped into the hot fat. I galani are thin and brittle, while the pasta of crostoli is slightly less crumblier and thicker.

The word crostolo comes from the Latin “crusta”, indicating a kind of cookie (and street vendors once used to put the ice cream in the crostolo before the cone was invented).

making Galani

At the weekend I called my mum and decided to get her to help me make some Galani for the family, as we always do during Carnival time. We suggest that if you decide to do this recipe (which is very easy but also requires speed) you do it with a friend or a family member, so whilst one person rolls the pastry the other one fries and it gives you plenty of time to have a good chat!

Galani
Ingredients for 3 bowls of Galani: :

400 gr. plain flour, 60 gr. sugar, 50 gr. butter (must be left at room temperature for at least 20 minutes), 2 eggs, 1 glass of white dry wine or grappa, 1 pinch of salt.

what the pasta should look like

Preparation: Take the flour and the salt and sieve them directly on the working area, making a well in the centre. Add the sugar, then the butter reduced in small bits. Rub the butter into the sugar and flour. Now add the 2 eggs and at first beat them into the four and butter, then slowly start pushing the flour into the eggs, mixing everything well (just like when you prepare pasta). Now start adding a bit of wine at the time , making sure each time it is well absorbed by the pastry. Keep working the pastry with your hands for at least 10 minutes, banging it on the working area as you would with the bread dough. This helps the pastry rising. Carry on working until the pastry is smooth and elastic (as shown on the picture). Leave to rest covered with a kitchen towel for at least 1 hour. Once the hour has passed, start heating up your oil. In the meantime take a small piece of the dough (the size of an egg) and roll out the pastry very very thinly, less than 1mm, just like a sheet of paper. Using a pizza cutter, cut out some rectangular shapes ( 1 cm x 4 cm circa or smaller) and make a little cut inside each of them (this will stop the strips from exploding in the hot oil). As soon as the oil is hot enough (check this by placing the handle of a wood spoon in it – if bubbles appear around it the oil is ready) take 2 or 3 strips (not more otherwise they will burn) and put them in the oil. Cook on each side for about 5-10 seconds (they will bubble up) and remove (they must be a nice pink colour, not brown). Place on some kitchen paper and let to rest. Keep rolling and frying until the dough is finished. When all Galani are completed place into a nice tray and cover with icing sugar.

Spices and the importance in Venetian cuisine

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Venetian spices by 1/a

Veneto is the second Italian region, after Emilia Romagna, for the number of certified food products: as many as 21 Dop and Igp are from one of the seven provinces of the Veneto.

A natural predisposition to quality is also reflected in the culinary tradition, enriched over the centuries by ingredients from the four corners of the world, thanks to the commercial role of the Venetian Republic, the main point of exchange between Europe and the Far East. Venice was the Emporium of European spices.

Spices had a prominent role in regional cuisine: they were, as well as an effective “preservative” for a large number of foods, also a precious ingredient capable of enhancing simple food.

The function of Venice to the opening of Europe’s gastronomic culture was really important: the contact of the Serenissima with the cultures that faced the Mediterranean – Africa and Asia – was an important vehicle for the import of spices throughout Europe. In the fifth century Venice unloaded from the ships coming from the Levantine countries about 5000 tons of spices, such as pepper, ginger, saffron, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, coriander, and others.

cocca by sulla cresta dell’onda

The first to mention the important role of Venice was the Latin writer and diplomat Flavius Cassiodorus, in the trade mission to the newly born community in 537 AD, who described the eating habits based on “only fish.” The Venetic sold salt for a living. In 1000, after developing the maritime trade with the East with the Crusades, Venice became a kind of “global bazaar” where merchants from all over Europe came to buy pepper, cinnamon, saffron, sugar, cloves and other flavors which rich men seemed eager to use to season the tasteless meat. The Venetian fleet with its “cocche” (bulging ships) sent loads of people and animals (120 men and 30 horses) over to the land of the Crusades and brought home their holds full of merchandise like spices, silks, brocades, pearls, perfumes. Products such as “food drugs” (as they were known) were hard to find and their consumption or exhibition became a kind of status symbol. In those years the “sacchettis Venetis” ( Venetian bags) were very famous – they consisted of a mixture of fragrant spices and they were sold by the “spezieri”. They were bought by Venetian merchants at very high prices and were left in heritage together with the family jewels.

The various ethnic groups that made up the population of Venice left a definite mark in the refined and detailed cooking of the Serenissima. Venice welcomed ingredients and food components of the civilization with which it traded and it reworked them in its own way, spreading them everywhere: rice with raisins, gnocchi with breadcrumbs, goose salami and ears of Ammon, a kind of galani folded on themselves and also the combination of rice with vegetables, which comes from the mixture of various cuisines, such as the Jewish. The Armenians left us a particular dish: rice cooked in milk, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

Sugar refinery by Venezia giorno per giorno

And sugar itself was spread from Venice across Europe. Around the year 1000 the Templars Knights imported it from Cyprus and Crete, increasing the production in the Veneto hinterland, so much so that, little by little, honey was replaced by this sweet element. At the beginning it was only used for pharmaceutical reasons: from this period the use of the candy and the tablet, which were given only to important people.

As time went by the production of this sweet and wonderful element became the pivot of an art in which Venice touched unbelievable peaks: famous and elaborate sugar sculptures were performed not only by skilled confectioners, but the decorations were treated by important artists such as Sansovino and also Canova. Famous was the ” surprise demonstration” in 1574 to a young Henry, heir to the French throne and son of Catherine de Medici – at that time the court of France was one of the finest and most representative in Europe. In the Great Council Hall of the Doge’s Palace a banquet was all set up and everything was made out of sugar, from the tablecloths to the ornaments and the statues that adorned the room, and the famous Sansovino participated to the preparation with his sketches, together with the famous and fantastic Venetian scaletèri, amazing confectioners. Their work so amazing and all the furnishings, the tablecloth and even the napkins looked so real that the prince sat down at the table convinced to start the banquet,,,, and realized that it was all made with sugar when the napkin crumbled in his hands!

Libro di cucina di Anonimo Veneziano

Here is a very old recipe from Anonimo Veneziano (a Venetian cookbook from the 1300s to 1400s, now at the University of Marburg, Germany ) using spices.

“ LXVII. Savore rinforzato perfetto.

Se tu voy fare savore reforzato, toy garofali

e cinamo e zenzevro e un pocho de gardanino

e noxelle pellate suso la cenera calda

e un pocho de molena de pan e zucharo; pesta

queste chosse insieme un pocho e maxena

con aceto; e questo si è bono savore con

zaschuno rosto. ”

Perfect strong sauce

if you want to make a strong sauce, take cloves, cinnamon, ginger, a little cardamom and hazelnuts, cooked on hot coals so you can peel them, a little bit of the inside of the bread and sugar. Pound all these things together for a little bit and add some vinegar. This is a good sauce for all roasts.

I Bigoli, long Venetian style spaghetti

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Venetian Bigoli – by Rocco Paladino

Some people think that the name of “bigoli” comes from the curved rod with two hooks at the end, which was used to transport, resting it on the shoulders, buckets of water or milk crates, and that it was also a unit of measure (bi = two and angle = neck).

There also those who believe that the name derives from the verb “bighellonare” (loitering), which in Venetian dialect means, in its origin, going out to party.

All over Veneto the bigoli were the most common dish eaten during the days of abstinence and fasting: Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday and Holy Friday were and are always the days of “bigoli in salsa” in almost all the cities of Veneto with a constant combination of bigoli and salted sardines, with the added variation of other ingredients from city to city.

If their name has already unsure birth, you can imagine the problem with their origins. It is said that during the war the Republic of Venice fought against the Turks, and the latter used to sink the merchant vessels sailing from Sicily to Venice and bringing durum wheat which was used to make bread and pasta. The stores were increasingly empty and the risk of starvation loomed. The workerin charge of the city food supplies was a Paduan who thought of using the little durum wheat that remained, and mix it with the tender grain that the Venetian hinterland offered. Everything was mixed with eggs to give more consistency to the product, which was served as a very large noodle. There are traces of this in the historical archives in Reggio Emilia, where a script by the master of culinary art, Barnaba de Reatins describes this product in 1338 and it calls it “menudei”, clearly the ancestor of the current bigoli (pronounced in Venetian bigoi – beegoee).

In 1604 the Paduan Bartolomio Veronese, master pasta maker, called Abbondanza (Abundance) because of his large size, obtained permission from the municipal council of Padua for a patent for a pasta making machine. This machine, constructed in wood, of cylindrical shape, allowed to compress, with a lever and a piston, the dough, inserted from above, by passing it through a perforated filter. The result was a long pasta similar to Neapolitan spaghetti, but much larger (2 to 2.5 mm. In diameter) and pretty coarse on the surface, without a hole in the center. Thus was born the bigolano which then took the name of Bigolaro (the machine that prepares bigoli) which later for safety and hygiene would be built with filters and dies all in bronze.

Bigolaro, pasta making machine

Venetian grandmothers used to make the bigoli with a home-cooking Bigolaro, a press that was fixed to the table: the Nonna would put a bowl on a chair which would be positioned under the Bigolaro and then press the dough with the machine and long spaghetti fell into the basin below.

The use of the Bigolaro is especially famous in the north-est of Italy and was used mostly by low-income families, because they could prepare the very cheap dough but at the same time making it energetic and nutritious, since they could not afford to buy the lasagne, which were very expensive for the presence of the eggs. In the past eggs were used as coins in exchange for goods, so one egg could buy an equivalent measure of one egg of sugar or salt. Eggs were not lacking, since all households had their own small chicken coop, but first of all they had to serve as currency.

The dough was made out of: 500 g of flour, a pinch of salt and enough water to make the dough firm but elastic. The Bigolaro was fixed to the table, or if there was another type of machine this would be attached to a stool on which, in general, sat a young girl or the same person who put into operation the Bigolaro. As soon as they were made the bigoli were put to dry on top of sticks suspended between two chairs, called in dialect “Perteghe” or “perteghete” depending on the length of the sticks.

In general, the housewives prepared this pasta once a week and enough to last for the whole week, so the amount of dough produced was considerable, not forgetting the number of members of the family, which in those days were often numerous.

Bigoli in salsa and Bigoli with mussels by Rocco Paladino

After WWII people started getting wealthier and the press went into disuse due to the commercialization of new dry pasta products. The dark bigoli of Bassano and Treviso went through a difficult period then because, under Italian law, which caters for the official production of pasta allowing only the use of durum wheat for the production, they appeared to be a sophisticated altered product. Fortunately laws change and now, being classified as a traditional product, they can be produced according to the original recipe. By adding squid ink you also get black bigoli.

Here below is the traditional recipe for Bigoli in Salsa, the most famous of all Venetian pasta dishes. Easy, cheap and simply DELICIOUS!

BIGOLI IN SALSA

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE:

1 spoonful of extra virgin olive oil
1 thinly diced white onion
2 spoons of dry white wine
6 salted sardines (rinsed) (or 8 anchovies in oil)
320 gr bigoli (Venetian long spaghetti) or spaghetti

PREPARATION:

Finely dice the onion. Place a spoon of olive oil in a saucepan over a low heat and place the onion in it. Fry very very gently and keep adding a spoon or two of wine to avoid the browning of the onion. Rinse the sardines under cold running water, take the bones and innards off and cut the sardines in very small pieces. As soon as the onion is nice and soft but still white add the sardines and keep cooking for a little longer until it become a very thick paste.

Onions and sardines for Bigoli in Salsa

In the meantime bring a pan full of salted water to the boil. As soon as the water boils, drop the bigoli or spaghetti in it. Cook al dente and drain. Place the bigoli back on the pan where you cooked them and mix them with the prepared sardine sauce and gently cook for 1 minute longer. Serve immediately! BUON APPETITO!

Carnival Time – Fritoe aea Venessiana

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Frittelle

Here we go again: Christmas and New Year celebration have passed, Epiphany has just gone by and with it all celebration have finally stopped, as an old Venetian proverb says: L’Epifania tute e feste porta via! (Epiphany takes all celebration away).

But here in Venice 6th January means also the unofficial start of the Carnevale and the beginning of a long series of cake and dessert making which usually lasts until the last day of Carnival, Mardi Gras.

During January and February all over Italy, but above all allover Venice (where Carnival originates from) and its region Veneto, bakeries and patisserie dish out daily masses of frittelle (sweet dumplings) and galani (as we call them in Venice, know as cenci or chiacchiere in other parts of Italy) as well as castagnole.

Today we will talk about Frittelle!

For the whole article about the history of frittelle just visit my blog on Venice. Here is a short extract from it:

“…..In Venice, the “fritole” was considered the national dessert since the days of the Serenissima Republic and you could “taste” it not only in Venice, but throughout the Veneto and the region of Friuli, up to almost the outskirts of Milan. The undisputed queen of Venetian sweets, the frittella or “fritoa” lends itself to live with the carnival its magic moment.
The fritole, which held the sceptre of the art of confectionery of the people, was produced in various streets of the city, as well as in homes and bakeries , but mostly in wooden huts of a square shape. The producers of the “fritole” were the “fritoleri”, who were both producers and sellers of this fritters. The fritoleri, as if to emphasize their exclusivity to produce them, in the ’600 formed an association, composed of seventy “fritoleri”, each with its own area where he could exercise the exclusive business and pass it on exclusively to his children. The corporation remained active until the fall of the Republic, though the art of “fritoleri” definitively disappeared from the streets of Venice only in the late nineteenth century….. ”

And here is one of many recipes, which all claim to be authentic. The problem is that, as always with very famous and widespread recipes, every household has its own special authentic one

This is the recipes from our Venetian grandmas.

FRITOE AEA VENESSIANA – VENETIAN FRIED SWEET DUMPLINGS

Fritoe ae venessiana

Ingredients: 500 g. plain flour, 20 g. yeast (dissolved in a little warm water), 80 g. sugar, 2 eggs, milk, the zest of 1 lemon, 80 g. raisins (immersed for 1 hour in a bit of grappa or rhum), oil to fry, icing sugar, salt

First dissolve the yeast in a little warm water with the sugar. Then add this to the flour together with the eggs, the zest of the lemon and a pinch of salt. Start mixing and slowly add a little milk at a time, until the dough is smooth and soft. Keep mixing until you see bubbles appearing. Cover the bowl with a wet towel and leave to rest for 2 hours in a warm place.

After the time has passed, take the dough and add the raisins (not the juice they released). Make some little balls and put them to fry in a deep pan with hot oil (don’t worry if the dough is too soft and you cannot make the balls, use a small spoon to pout the dough in the hot oil). Take the little fried balls away from the hot oil as soon as they are a nice golden colour. Don’t fry too many balls at the same time, they will burn on the outside and will not cook on the inside.

Drain the balls on some kitchen paper, serve them warm covered by icing sugar. Best eaten the same day and with a nice glass of prosecco wine.

Cook in Venice blog opens for business!

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Cook In Venice

Ciao a tutti!

We finally did it! Arianna and I (Monica) got round to start our own blog!

We will publishing our tested recipes, news about our cooking classes and courses but also our students comments and reviews on their experience with Cook in Venice!

Arianna at her best!

We will also be very happy to publish photos, questions and comments from those viewers who tested our recipes, even if the end result was not a complete success. Nobody is perfect and home-cooking is not about perfection, but it’s all about flavours and comfort food!

So, get cooking and let us know which of our recipes you liked best!

Cook in Venice Blog

the one-stop for authentic Venetian and Italian home-cooking recipes and info

PIZZA PIZZA AND MORE PIZZA

Rice and Risotto

Sarde in Saor by our reader Rosalba

The most famous top 10 Venetian dishes

Venetian Bread History

GALANI, deliciously crumbling sweets for Carnival in Italy

Spices and the importance in Venetian cuisine

I Bigoli, long Venetian style spaghetti

Carnival Time – Fritoe aea Venessiana

Cook in Venice blog opens for business!