From verduzzo friulano to fregolotta, here’s what to seek out (and bring home) from a trip to the historic region.
What typical food items can you buy and bring home from Venice? Be led by your curiosity and go to the Rialto Market, a veritable temple of food. The fish market is in two old market halls overlooking the Grand Canal and next door you’ll find the fruit and vegetable markets, shops selling cheeses and cured meats, butchers and the best food stores and bacari in the city. Most importantly, leave a little room in your suitcases for your shopping (at bargain prices) because you’ll want to buy everything! That way you’ll be able to continue your gastronomic voyage back home …
From the grocery store
Polenta bianca (white polenta) is typical of Venice and Treviso. It’s made from a very old variety of corn. Ask for Bianco Perla polenta, the variety considered to be the best quality, finer and tastier than yellow polenta. It is the essential accompaniment for the fish of the lagoon.
Bigoli is a thick wholemeal spaghetti that is prepared in salsa, with a sauce made from onion and anchovies or salted sardines.
Some good artisan pasta.
Risotto rice from Veneto, the local variety is called Vialone Nano – dried porcini, Italian saffron, condiments flavoured with white truffle, all recommended ingredients for flavouring your risotto.
A good bottle of olive oil from Lake Garda. It goes without saying that when I recommend an olive oil, it must be extra virgin, first cold pressed and produced from Italian olives. Thanks to the lake’s microclimate, this olive oil is very delicate and refined. It is perfect for dressing fish. Ask for advice on a good balsamic vinegar that’s been aged for a few years or the traditional balsamic vinegar that is aged for at least 12 years, a real nectar to be used sparingly, in drops.
Dried beans (fagioli secchi), preferably the lamon or borlotti varieties. The dried beans from Lamon, a small mountain village in Veneto, are exquisite. They have the thin skins and floury quality that are essential for soup.
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Luxardo brand “marasche”, preserved cherries or cherry liqueurs to flavour your desserts.
Cheeses
When it comes to cheese, you have an embarrassment of choice. Ask for it to be vacuum-packed for the trip home.
Parmesan. Make the most of being in Italy by buying a parmesan cheese that’s been matured for 36 months. It will be perfect to enjoy as is or grated over risotto or pasta. We also produce grana padano in the Venice region, which can be matured for up to 24 months and is more of a table cheese.
Fresh asiago cheese DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta or protected designation of origin) is enjoyed for its milky aroma. Sweet and delicate on the palate, mature asiago has very aromatic hay flavours. It can be a little sharp if it is very mature.
Monte veronese DOP is a very aromatic cheese with floral and hay notes. It has an intense and slightly sharp flavour if it is very mature (12 months).
Montasio DOP is aged between two and 24 months. It has a delicate and slightly herbaceous flavour. When fresh, its milky taste dominates. When it has matured, its flavour is more intense and aromatic. Montasio is a typical hard cheese that is eaten with drinks or as a snack. There are other similar cheeses from Veneto, such as piave and latteria. Carnia and carnia altobut (a mountain cheese) are cheeses from Friuli. All of these semi-hard and hard cheeses are the favourite snack of people in this region. I learned from my mother to use latteria instead of mozzarella on pizza. It has noticeably more flavour than a mass-produced mozzarella.
Ubriaco (which means “drunk”) is a semi-hard cow’s-milk cheese typical of the Treviso region. It is matured with raboso wines, one of the typical varieties of this province near the Piave River. The tradition of maturing the cheese in this way dates back to World War I, when the country people had the idea of hiding their cheeses in barrels of grape must so they didn’t fall into the hands of the occupying forces! This richly aromatic cheese has a fruity, “dense” flavour with a slight sharpness. It is perfect with a good polenta.
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Advertise with NZME.Casatella is a delicious creamy cheese, typical of Treviso, that should be eaten very fresh. It is ripened from four to eight days. It has a very sweet milky flavour. Children adore it. It’s one to enjoy on the spot because of its runny consistency.
Cured meats
Sopressa is a good Italian pork salami. Fresh and tender, it melts in the mouth and has a full, delicious flavour. It is cut only by knife and is perfect for filling a piccolo panino (a small sandwich). Ask for it to be vacuum-packed for you.
Take the opportunity while you’re there to taste prosciutto of various ages (over 14 months). The neighbouring region of Friuli produces the exquisite San Daniele prosciutto and the delicious prosciutto di Sauris. Emilia Romagna excels with its culatello and prosciutto di Parma.
Alcohol
Make certain you take home a bottle of Venetian white wine, a real rarity! Also remember some prosecco, an artisan grappa (a grape marc eau-de-vie) and aperitifs (Ramazzotti aperitivo, Select, Aperol …) essential for your home-made spritz. Drink in moderation, excessive alcohol intake is dangerous for your health!
Biscuits and sweets
Round grissini such as bussolai biscuits, which is where the sweet version originated. In former times they were called pan-biscotto (biscuit-bread) because they kept for a long time and fed the sailors. These round grissini are made from flour, olive oil, lard, malt, yeast and salt.
Artisan crispbreads, like the extra-thin figuli from Visnadello (Treviso) or the irresistible grissini bibanesi made from olive oil and kamut flour, sold in supermarkets. Try the very thin artisan Sartorelli biscuits, with almonds or hazelnuts … once you start eating them, it’s hard to stop.
Baicoli. These are delicious dry biscuits and typically Venetian. Thin and light, they’re dunked in coffee or desserts. They’re sold in boxes with designs on the outside that haven’t changed since my childhood (a cardboard box at the supermarket, a metal box in pasticcerias)!
The mandorlato di Cologna Veneta. This is an exquisite hard nougat. Its recipe is a hundred years old. It is made exclusively from blanched almonds, honey, sugar and egg white and cooked for nine hours. This is a true sweet indulgence sold especially at Christmas time.
A packet of caffe to dip your biscuits into.
Venice Cult Recipes (mini) by Laura Zavan, $33, published by Murdoch Books.
More on Italy
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