20 Great Things to do in Venice 13/20 – Eat seafood you've never seen before

The lagoon city has a long and glorious culinary tradition based on fresh seafood. A writhing, glistening variety of sea creatures swims from the stalls of the Rialto and Chioggia markets into local kitchens. Going with the flow of la cucina veneta requires a certain spirit of open minded experimentation. Not everybody has eaten granseola (spider crab) before, or garusoli (sea snails) or canoce (mantis shrimps), but Venice is definitely the place to try these marine curios.

Seppie (Sepe) in Umido alla Veneziana (Black Cuttlefish Venetian Style)

I saw a video yesterday by Cesare Colonnese about the Seppie in Umido and decided to prepare them today for lunch so went to Rialto market to get fresh Cuttlefish (Seppie)

This requires fresh cuttlefish, because you will need the contents of one or two ink sacks. It makes an excellent one-course meal if served with either fresh polenta, which is the traditional Venetian accompaniment, or a simple risotto in bianco

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) medium-sized cuttlefish, with their ink sacks
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 medium onion, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon minced parsley
• 1 cup (250 ml) dry white wine
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 1 cup (250 ml) hot broth or bouillon
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) olive oil
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Clean the cuttlefish, setting aside two ink sacks. Wash the cuttlefish well, cut the bodies into thin rings, and chop the tentacles. Set a pot on the fire and sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil, over a brisk flame. When the onion is lightly browned remove and discard the garlic, then add the cuttlefish to the pot, salt them lightly, and stir in the parsley Continue sautéing for ten minutes, stirring all the while, then add the wine and bring the mixture to a simmer. Remove the ink from the sacks to a bowl, and add it to the cuttlefish according to your taste – in other words, if you want a very dark dish add all the ink. Stir in the tomato paste as well, and continue simmering over a low flame until the cuttlefish is fork tender (45-50 minutes), adding the hot broth as need be to replace the liquid that evaporates. Check seasoning and serve, in an elegant pre-heated dish.

Venice's Cats...where are they gone??

For a Gallery of Venetian Stray Cats click here

The Lion of St. Mark is Venice's mascot, at least among sculptors and decorators but in real life, the closest lion is probably at the Parco Natura Viva just outside Verona ;-)

With no living lions to reign over Venice, the local feline population has adopted a surrogate leonine role. Back in the 1980s, when I spent my year in Venice as part of the national army service, cats were seen everywhere in the city: sunning themselves on park benches, perched on bridges, wandering the streets, and dining on leftovers at the Rialto fish market.

Now the cat population has been limited mainly by laws and modern way of life, there are still few colonies the main ones are at Ospedale Civile (yes inside!) , at San Lorenzo near the Church, at Bacini, at Giudecca near Ponte Lungo at the Arsenale, there are quite few at the Lido and one at Torcello!

There is an Anglo Italian organization Dingo part of AISPA that works to feed, protect and maintain colonies in a healthy and modern way, they also run the "gattile" (Cattery)  at Malamocco. Despite several misconceptions and a bit of Italian racism there are no proofs (!!!) that Dingo or the Cinese people are responsible for the disappearance of cats from Venice!

In a brilliant book titled A Venetian Bestiary, Jan Morris wrote:"The cat has always been an essential scavenger in a city that depends on the tides for its hygiene, and has periodically been decimated by rat-borne plagues. It was Shylock the Venetian who declared the cat to be 'both necessary and harmless,' and when from time to time the municipality has tried to reduce the teeming feline population, the citizenry has always been up in arms in protest. Your Venetian cats are not like others. Sometimes of course they live in the bosoms of families, and are fed on canned horsemeat, and prettied up with bows: but far more often they survive half-wild, in feral gangs or covens of cats, and not infrequently some cherished household pet, observing the lives of such lucky ruffians from the kitchen window, will abandon the comforts of basket and fireside rug, and take to the streets himself."

Risotto di bruscandoli - Hop Shoots Risotto

This is a very old recipe from the Venetian countryside! “Bruscandoli” are the end tips of the hop plants. This plant can be found easily in the Venetian countryside. This risotto can only be made during April since this is the time when the hop shoots. During the month of April the vegetable stalls of Rialto Bridge are full of these plants.

This is a very old recipe from the Venetian countryside (feel free to substitute the shoots with any other sort of root or shoot you like).

Ingredients: a big bunch of bruscandoli (hop shoots) about 300 gr, 300 gr. Rice Vialone Nano or Arborio, ½ an onion, 1 lt. Broth, a bit of butter, 1/2/ glass of wine, olive oil.

First of all rinse and chop in small pieces the hop shoots. Then sauté for few minutes in a large pan with a little bit of oil. Remove from eat.

Now place the butter in a sauce pan and melt it. Add the rice, sauté for a minute, add the wine and sauté then add the shoots and a bit of the broth. Stir and slowly start adding the the broth waiting every time for it to be absorbed by the rice. Keep stirring the rice until it is cooked through. Turn the heat off, add a little bit of butter and a good spoonful of parmisan.

Serve hot. This risotto must not be dry, but at the contrary quite smooth

Befana or Ephiphany in Venice

The Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated January 6 with a national holiday in Italy, and the tradition of La Befana are a big part of Italian Christmas celebrations. Epiphany commemorates the 12th day of Christmas when the three Wise Men arrived at the manger bearing gifts for Baby Jesus. The traditional Christmas holiday season in Italy lasts through Epiphany. On Venice’s Grand Canal, at 11 c'clock men dressed as old witches – ‘befane’ in Italian – race towards the Rialto Bridge, standing up as they row Venetian style. This event takes place every year in January in celebration of Epiphany.

Best places to watch the race: Rialto but you must get there quite early, Riva del Vin or just around Rialto Mercato.