A basic lexicon about
Veneto and Venetian food

Now I’ ll touch on the Venetian food glossary, words that are used in Venice and in almost all of Veneto (Italy).
These are words – and dishes of course - that you can find in hostarias or restaurants in Veneto.

However you can not always find all of them in an Italian dictionary, as they belong uniquely to the Veneto’s dialect.
Some of them are common in all of Italy, while many others – being typical Veneto and Venetian recipes - are used only in the Venetian dialect.

• anguilla in guazzetto: eel stewed in tomato sauce. It’s typical mostly of the delta of the river Po area

• asparagi e uova: a spring/summer delicatessen: steamed asparagus dip into salted mashed hard boiled eggs

• bacaro: typical Venetian hostaria or tavern

• baccalà mantecato: creamy dried cod. A must try delicatessen of Venice and Veneto. Also renowned is the baccalà alla vicentina, made in Vicenza and province

• beverasse in cassopippa: a typical recipe of Chioggia, a quaint town near Venice. It’s a clam soup cooked on a low flame in an earthenware pot

• bigoli: typical Veneto’s spaghetti, made with egg pasta. They are usually made with a torchio and dressed with ragout

• bigoli co’l’arna: bigoli with duck ragout

• canocia (Venetian, pronounced ca-no-tcha, Italian cannocchia, pronounced can-no-kkia): it is the popular mantis shrimp or sea cicada

• capesante: shellfish cooked in its typical fan-shaped sea shell, after dusting it with breadcrumbs

• cichetti (chi-ket-ti): sort of Venetian tapas eaten in the hostarias or cicchetterias, often standing or sitting on a stool at the counter. Very typical fast Venetian food.

• fegato alla veneziana: sweet and sour flavored Venetian style liver, cooked with onion, oil and vinegar

• fritto misto di pesce: assortment of different kinds of fried sea food, mostly crustaceans, shrimps, prawns and small fish

• folpeti lessati: boiled tiny octopus cut in small pieces and sprayed with lemon

• gnocchi: potato dumplings. They can be dressed with different types of sauces: ragout, tomato, cheese. A basic version is with butter and sage

• granceola alla veneziana: very typical Venetian food: it’s boiled spider crab meat served in its own shell with oil and lemon

• moeche col pien: lagoon crabs dip into beaten eggs and tossed

• pasta e fagioli: traditional Veneto dish, i.e. pasta with beans. In Venice it is eaten quite thick and cold

• peoci(p –eh-òh-chee): mussels, a common dish in all the Veneto coast. They can be cooked in different ways

• polenta e schie (s-kee-a): tiny gray prawns accompanied with polenta

• polenta e formaggio: polenta with cheese, usually soft cheese tossed with a small knob of butter

• polenta e sopressa: sopressa is a very typical pork cold cut of Veneto, usually eaten cold, sometimes warm and grilled. As a fast food, or as a snack, in Veneto is common to have a panino con sopressa, or a sopressa sandwich

• risi e bisi: rice and peas. This dish, dressed with plenty of peas, is not as thick as a risotto

• risotto ai frutti di mare: risotto with sea food

• risotto con gli asparagi: a very delicate risotto made with asparagus tips. The area of Bassano del Grappa is renowned for its fine white asparagus

• risotto con bruscandoli (or luppolo): risotto with hops. Hop is also used to prepare soups and omelettes

• risotto al nero di seppia: risotto with cuttlefish ink, characterized by a black color

• risotto con funghi: risotto with mushrooms

• risotto con radicchio: this fine and renowned red vegetable is an extremely typical Veneto food

• risotto con scampi: a traditional risotto with crustaceans

• sardéle in saor: another very typical Veneto and Venetian food. It’s a sweet-and- sour cold dish: sardines marinaded in vinegar, withered onion and pine nuts

• scampi alla busara: scampi served with tomato and hot pepper. The term busara allegedly has its origin in the Histrian or Dalmatian language, but it is a controversial issue

• seppie alla veneziana: Venetian style cuttlefish, grilled in their own ink. The Venice lagoon is rich in these molluscs.

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