The Venetian taste, a story of taste of the world

Frittelle veneziane / Carnival fritters.

© Grégoire Kalt

By: Clémence Denavit Follow

15 min

Venetian gastronomy is an adventure in itself.

Reflection of the history of this fish town in northeastern Italy, a dream of stone on the water of the lagoon and a view of the Adriatic Sea.

The tastes go through the centuries, and leave for memory dishes from elsewhere, sweet and savory, spices, salt which she traded, and which allowed the cod to be salted to preserve it.

The Venetian gastronomy can be in the baroque history, rich, and abundant, a singular present, current, around the product.

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In the footsteps of our guests, the Italian, native of Treviso, culinary author Laura Zavan and Massimo Mori, figure of Veneto in Paris with her Mori Venice Bar, we taste the serene from bite to bite, of sweet and sour sardine, in crostini , frito misto, crispy shellfish and seafood, not to mention the crostinis, risottis, fondants, creamy, with this very particular rice that grows on the Po plain, or the carnival cakes which, this year, are still done in video, fritolles and crostollis.

With:

Laura Zavan

, culinary author, speaker and author of "Venice, cult recipes" at Marabout, "My little Italy" always at Marabout, and every month in the magazine Saveurs.

To find

on his site

and on

instagram.

Laura Zavan.

© Clémence Denavit / RFI

-

Massimo Mori

, chef and entrepreneur, founder of the “

Mori Venice Bar

”, 27 rue Vivienne, in Paris and of the Emporio Armani restaurants.  

GP cremonini,

restaurant la Riviera

, Dorsoduro 1473, Fondamenta Zattere al Ponte Longo, 30123 Venezia, Italy.  

Massimo Mori.

© Thomas Smith

Mori Venice Bar, rue Vivienne, Paris.

© Thomas Smith

►To go further

- Dolce, the Italian pastry.

Laura Zavan - Marabout

- Polpo, treasures of Italian cuisine

.

By Russel Norman.

Hatchet 2020

- We are going to taste the Italy

of François Régis Gaudry and his friends.

Marabout 2020

- A table in Venice

- Skye McAlpine - Ulmer editions

-

“Listening to the world” programs on RFI

-

"Listen to Venice in Venetian dialect" on RFI 

Music

Baldassare Galupi

- second concerto in D major.

- Soundtrack of the film

Anonimo veneziano

(Farewell to Venice) by Enrico Salerno.

Composer: Stelvio Cipriano.

Slideshow

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"Venetian recipes", by Laura Zavan


"Venice, cult recipes", ed.

Marabout.



Baccalà mantecato / cod rillettes


For 6 people



Ingredients:


400 g of desalted cod


¾ Grape seed oil or delicate oil (about 15 cl)


1/4 Extra virgin olive oil


A few sprigs of parsley,


1 bay leaf and


a half - garlic clove,


salt, pepper,



Put the cod in a saucepan with the garlic cut into 4, the parsley stems, the bay leaf, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, skim, simmer for 3 minutes, ( to taste if it is necessary to add salt) stop cooking and let cool the fish in the water ... Drain the cod, remove the skin, crumble the flesh by hand, be careful to remove all the bones, and put it in a food processor bowl (use the plastic sheet or blade), add the pressed garlic, gradually pour the grape seed oil and then the olive oil as for a mayonnaise.

Whip the baccalà until you obtain a creamy consistency, you can add a little cooking water to make this cream lighter.


The quantity of oil used depends on the quality of the more or less fatty fish.

Add a few sprigs of chopped parsley, season with pepper, taste and salt if necessary.


Serve over bread crostini or polenta.



Ps: To desalinate the cod, soak it. Soak it one night in cold water, then one day by changing the water several times.


Tips

 : Keep some skin from the cod, it serves as a binder for the cream.




Zucca flan / pumpkin flan



for 6 people / preparation 30 min / cooking 1h30



Ingredients


1kg of pumpkin cut into small cubes


250g of mascarpone


4 eggs


80g of butter


100g of potato starch (or cornstarch)


1c.

to c.

nutmeg 1


tsp.

to c.

cinnamon


breadcrumbs


salt, pepper


ten sage leaves


80 gr of smoked ricotta cheese, or pecorino or parmigiano


a handful of dry toasted squash seeds.



Cover the pumpkin in a large saucepan over low heat with 20 g of butter, salt and pepper.

When the pumpkin is very tender, mix it and leave to cool.

Then add the cornstarch, mascarpone and spices, add the eggs one by one and mix well.

Butter individual flan molds, sprinkle them with breadcrumbs, fill them with the mixture.

Bake in a bain-marie in the oven at 180 ° C for 1 hour 10 minutes, leave to rest for 15 minutes before unmoulding on the plate, cover with melted butter flavored with sage leaves, and coarsely grate the smoked ricotta or pecorino cheese on top.

Sprinkle with toasted squash seeds.


Note

- You can omit the melted butter at the end.

It remains just as delicious!


Frittelle veneziane

/

Fried Carnival


In Venice carnival inconceivable without

f

ritole

(

frittelle

in Italian)!

In 1570, Bartolomeo Scappi, the cook of Pope Pius V, confirms in his work entitled 'Opera dell'arte del cucinare' that the frittelle are indeed Venetian "dolce" (cakes).

He flavored them with rose water and saffron.

In the 18th century, Fritole officially became the national dessert of Venice!

In one of his famous comedies, Carlo Goldoni portrays

i fritoler

, the street vendors who prepared and sold fritole in the streets of Venice.


For 6 people


preparation 30 min / waiting 4 hours / cooking 30 min


500 g of flour


30 g of fresh baker's yeast or 1 sachet of dry yeast


2 eggs


80 g of sugar


grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange (untreated)


100 g of small raisins


50 g of pine nuts


15 cl of grappa (brandy) or rum


15 cl of milk


salt / sugar for sprinkling


For frying:


2 liters of peanut oil


Soak the raisins in the grappa.

Dissolve the brewer's yeast in 5 cl of lukewarm water with 1 tsp.

to c.

sugar.

In a large bowl, combine the flour with the lightly beaten eggs, sugar, half a tsp.

to c.

of salt, grated citrus zest.

Then add the yeast, pine nuts, drained grapes and grappa.

Mix this dense dough for a long time using an electric mixer, or 15 min by hand with a wooden spoon, until it becomes shiny and supple.

If it is too thick, add a little milk or water.

Cover the dough with a tea towel and let it rise for 4 hours in a warm place.

Then work the dough for a few more minutes.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, pour the dough with a spoon (the equivalent of a walnut).

Fry a few frittelle at a time.

They must have the space to turn around on their own!

(about 8 min of cooking).

Take them out with a skimmer once they are golden brown and place them on absorbent paper.

Serve hot frittelle sprinkled with sugar.


Note

- The dough of the

fritole

is not very sweet, it is the sugar that is sprinkled on it that sugar it.



Crostoli Carnival / Venetian Bugnes



The

crostoli

like

fritole (Frittelle

/ donuts) are typical cakes carnival in Venice.

Elsewhere in Italy, they are called galani, souffle, cenci, or chiacchiere… These pastries are made of very fine dough, cut into tight diamonds, and fried.

A 16th century author called them "donuts filled with wind".



For 6 people / preparation 30 min / cooking 15 min



Ingredients


500 gr of flour


80 gr of caster sugar


1 egg


60 gr of butter


1 small glass of grappa / brandy or rum


1 half a glass of milk


a pinch of salt


oil of frying



In a salad bowl, put sugar and egg, beat until obtaining a homogeneous cream.

Add the still warm melted butter, the salt, the grappa, the milk, and gradually add the flour.

Work the dough for a long time until you obtain the consistency of a tagliatelle dough.

On a floured work surface, roll out the dough as thin as possible with a rolling pin.

Cut out diamonds with a serrated wheel.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and fry the

crostoli

without

browning them

too much.

Drain them on a sheet of absorbent paper and serve them with icing sugar.

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