7 Venetian Dishes You Have To Try

What can you expect to eat in Venice? This beautiful city and water go hand in hand, so not only is seafood widely available, but it’s also of the highest quality. Many seafood dishes in Venice are influenced by Middle Eastern cuisine, due to the city’s history of commercial trade. The real traditional Venetian dishes today include simple and nutritious dishes, rich in flavour that often link sweet to savoury, sour to spicy.

Unlike the rest of Italy, pizza isn’t such a specialty here. Instead, you can enjoy dishes such as creamed bacalà, a cream made with fish cooked for a long time and served with grilled polenta slices, cuttlefish and polenta or Venetian liver.

You might not be able to travel there right now, but we wanted to highlight some of the best recipes from the region. These recipes come from the very best food bloggers in the world, so make sure to bookmark their sites.

Grab yourself some good fresh produce and invite some friends or family over. Time to get into the kitchen and to start cooking up some of these classics. The perfect way to test yourself if you are an aspiring home cook!

Best Venetian Dishes

1. Bigoli in Salsa

This pasta dish is considered one of the signature dishes of Venice, made with whole-wheat bigoli pasta, onion, and salt-cured fish. While today usually anchovy is used, in earlier days it was often prepared with sardines.

Recipe is by Chezuppa.

2. Sarde in Saor

This sweet-sour dish is a favourite among Venetians. Made with fried sardine fillets that are marinated in vinegar, onions, raisins and pine nuts. This dish is usually served as an antipasto or appetiser.

Recipe is by Italian Kiwi.

3. Mołéche

Mołéche are small green crabs only available during springtime, they are a Venetian delicacy. Delightfully soft and tender, these crabs lend themselves well to fried dishes and salads.

Photo via valentinapiovan

4. Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia

Pieces of squid are slow-cooked in tomato sauce, it’s then coloured with the ink of the squid. A little bit of black will colour the entire pasta. It may look unusual but this dish is delicious!

Recipe is by Il Cuore in Pentola.

5. Fritole

These Venetian style doughnuts are the perfect sweet treat! During the Carnevale, you will see these everywhere.

Recipe by ExploreMediterranean.

6. Fegato alla Veneziana

This liver dish served on a bed of onions and it’s often accompanied by polenta. This dish is famous for the intensity of flavours and its served best with a white wine.

Recipe is by Donnafugata (Translate to English!)

Venetian dishes

7. Cicchetti

Sometimes spelled “cichetti” or called “cicheti” in the Venetian language, are small snacks or side dishes, usually fresh fish, meats and cheese on small bits of bread. The recipe below shows you how to make three different types.

Recipe is by Farmer’s Girl Kitchen.

Venetian dishes

Photo via free.unicorn

Big 7 Travel Team