Venice and the Veneto have been part of my life since childhood. I was 11 the first time I visited Venice. I know the province of Verona well, where the radicchio my father exported was grown. Food connected me to the Veneto as a child, and it still does now, as I teach at a cookery school in the Dolomite foothills of Treviso three times a year. To be able to visit so often, and to cook with the region’s magical ingredients, is a privilege and pleasure.
The cooking of the seven provinces of Veneto is as diverse as the many landscapes of the region, from the snowy peaks of the Pre-Alps to the coastal marshes and lagoons. North and inland from Venice and the sea, the dishes of the terraferma (mainland) are usually substantial. Meat is eaten instead of seafood, and the cooking is heartier, with many meat stews. The accompaniments to these, throughout the whole of Veneto, are polenta and rice, not pasta. In mountainous Belluno, wild mushrooms abound in season. In Treviso, with its fertile soil, radicchio is king. In Vicenza, the white asparagus from Bassano is a seasonal treat. Padua is famous for its white polenta, preserved goose and wonderful chickens, while Verona is known for its gnocchi, fresh-water fish from Lake Garda, horsemeat stew, and vialone nano rice. Most of the provinces make cheeses, salami and hams (Veneto ham is DOP, Denominazione d’Origine Protetta, ‘protected designation of origin’). Veneto is a well-known wine area, producing many famous reds, wonderful Prosecco, and is also the home of grappa, the Italian equivalent of French marc.
Venice, La Serenissima, is arguably the most beautiful and charismatic city of Italy. Its history as a maritime republic and its trade with the East have both helped to shape its culinary arsenal. In many of the seafood and other dishes, there are little touches of the exotic – the highly peppered sauce that accompanies duck and game dishes, a hint of cinnamon in risotto or gnocchi – which are rare in the rest of Italy. In Venice you should eat seafood, which is brought in fresh every day from the lagoon. Venice, for me, has inspiration on every corner.