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Cicheti and antipasti, or snacks and starters, are Venetian specialities. A classic snack or starter is sarde in saor, sardines fried up in an onion marinade, a favourite since the 13th century. Anything fishy fried up in saor tastes pretty good. Variations on the baccala (dried cod) theme are also legion. It is good served up with polenta, which absorbs some of the fish's natural saltiness Another delicacy is granseole, large crabs that live at the bottom of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic. Cape sante, or coquilles St Jacques, often feature with pasta, but can be had as a snack fried in olive oil and garlic, with parsley, lemon and a little white wine added at the last minute. Not to be missed is risotto nero, stewed rice coloured and flavoured with the ink of cuttlefish (seppia). Many restaurants that offer risotto will only serve it to a minimum of two people. One type of pasta that is Venetian is bigoli, a kind of rough, thick spaghetti. Its texture makes it ideal for seafood sauces, which stick to it better than to other pastas. A classic is bigoli or spaghetti alla busara - with scampi and a very mild red sauce. Seafood is popular but also often expensive. Remember that the prices you see for some fish are price per etto (100g). Be very careful when ordering as you can be get an unpleasant surprise when the bill comes. The cost of fresh fish is high, so cheap fish meals generally mean frozen fish is used. Try seppia with polenta. The most common fish types you will be offered include branzino (sea bass; good when boiled), orata (bream) and sogliola (sole). Masanete and moleche are variations on the crab theme (both of which just translate to granchio in Italian). One meat dish to try is carpaccio. Rumoured to have also been invented by Cipriani and consists of plates of very finely sliced raw beef in a simple sauce. The sauce is a mix of mayonnaise, crushed tomato, cream, mustard and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. |