To start, I offered a smattering of cicchetti, which is basically the Italian version of tapas, served with two quintessential Venetian cocktails: the Spritz and the Bellini. My guests seemed to prefer the Bellini, which is a sweet fruity cocktail, made with three parts Prosecco and one part peach puree. This popular drink was invented at Venice's most famous watering hole, Harry's Bar, and named after the 15th-century Venetian painter.
The Bellini - like the bar - is preferred by Americans in Venice, but the Italians' drink of choice is the Spritz. This is not the first time I have written about this delightfully bitter aperetif: indeed it was included on the list of Top Ten Things to Miss about Life in Venice. In case you forgot, it is one part Prosecco and one part fizzy water, with a shot of bitters (eg, Campari), topped with a lemon and an olive or two. We spent many a fine spring evening sitting in a cafe overlooking the Grand Canal, sipping this fizzy orange drink. Come to think of it, we have spent many of fine summer evening sitting in the backyard of the pink house sipping this fizzy orange drink.
The first of my cichetti was a close replica of sarde in saor, or marinated sardines, a very traditional Venetian dish. Unfortunately, it's not so easy to find fresh sardines around here. The recipe I used suggested substituting sole filets, which were also not available at my local fish market. The guy behind the counter said the next best thing would be flounder, which is nothing like sardines, but nevermind... they held up very well to the onions and white wine marinade.
Next came Venetian shrimp and scallops in a saffron tomato sauce. I have to admit that this recipe came from Rachel Ray, and I'm not sure how authentically Venetian is really is. But it sure was good.
After cocktail hour, I invited the guests to the table for the first course, which is another decadence that was allegedly created by the inventive folks at Harry's Bar (and named after another Venetian painter). This is basically raw meat. If you appreciate a nice rare steak, you'll love carpaccio, which is seared only slightly and sliced super thin. We ate this often in Venice - normally served atop fresh arugula and topped with olive oil and parmesan. I found a recipe that fancied it up a bit, topping it with a salsa of navel oranges and kalamata olives. It was a show-stopper. Really, my guests devoured it, and so did I (despite the prohibition on rare meat in my pregnant state).
Finally, my main course was roasted sea bass with potatoes and olives (as per this recipe), served with a side of risi e bisi, or risotto and peas (as per this recipe). The wine was a pinot grigio from the region of Friuli, just northeast of Venice.
Of course, I am petrified to filet my own fish, so I bought the sea bass filet and altered the recipe accordingly. It's simple to prepare, but sea bass is invariably buttery and succulent. The tomatoes and olives effectively cut this richness a bit - it was divine.
The risi e bisi was practically the only dish that I was able to prepare in advance. As such, in the flurry of cooking and serving this multi-course feast, I completely forgot about it until after everyone was done with their fish! But my guests still wanted to try this traditional Veneto stew, so I served it afterwards, inadvertently adding a fifth course. Woops.
After dinner, we brought out the vin santo, a delicious dessert wine that we brought back from Tuscany. Okay, it's not really Venetian, but we used to drink it when we were in Venice. Plus, it goes great with fritole, the traditional Carnival dessert. These miniature pastries are basically fried dough, sprinkled with powdered sugar, so you can't really go wrong. But the addition of raisins, pine nuts and grappa (or rum, in this case) enrichen the flavor. My guests were swooning (and stuffed).
Over dessert, we watched Mask Maker, Mask Maker, the audition video that I made in Venice, and looked at our photos from Carnival in Venice. The evening brought back some wonderful memories of La Serenissima!
Click here to re-read my travel blog from Venice.
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