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The food of the farmer and the food of the Doge
The food |
Knowledge comes not only with ideas and intelligence but also with experience and perception - of the simple and the sublime. In this way the wonders of nature and human achievement draw our attention, telling the story of a place and time, a culture. In a similar way, experiencing the food and wine tradition of a region can satisfy our thirst and hunger, our taste for knowledge. The method is easy - sample a cuisine which reflects the two noble souls of the Piave region, the aristocratic Venetian and the rural peasant.
Let's start with risotto. The famous Risi e Bisi, from the Serenissima, was the dish that the Doge served on April 25th - the occasion of the patron San Marco. Less aristocratic but very good is risotto with bruscandoli - the hop shoots found growing in hedgerows throughout the region.
Also try the traditional pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans) and the typical sopa coada a kind of pigeon hotpot, literally translated as 'brooded soup' owing to the time and method of cooking. The first records date back only to the XIX century, as the dish was made at home. Eventually the recipe found its way from the simple kitchen table to the dining rooms of local restaurants.
A delicacy from October to December is roasted goose with celery, one of many eaten with polenta. An ancient speciality of the thousand-year-old Fiera di Santa Lucia in Treviso, the roasted goose, was considered 'the pork of poor', for its high meat and fat content.
Of fish - there are an endless number of local recipes for trout and eel, both roasted and stewed. Then there is the famous fresh water prawns. Now a protected species, it was easy to find up to fifty years ago in our rivers, especially in those with gravel beds. Children used to catch them following the ancient fishing proverb se se move el sasso, soto ghe xe el gambaro - Veneto dialect for if the stone moves, there's a prawn underneath. The prawns were eaten boiled, or in broth to flavour a sauce served with polenta.
Another typical delicacy is asparagus, with eggs or au gratin. The white asparagus from Cimadolmo is PGI or Protected Geographical Indication. It's grown in sandy and muddy soils, which are porous and carefully drained. The warm, temperate climate, typical of the Piave banks, with frequent rainy springs, encourages the rapid growth of the asparagus allowing white, soft and non stringy shoots.
As side dishes we have the tasty Radicchio from Treviso, also known as spadone, various wild mushrooms, beans and herbs.
Among the desserts we recommend the winter pinza - a hearty ancient cake for rustic appetites. Also the zaleti or gialletti (meaning yellow) biscuits. These biscuits have a humble origin - made of yellow cornmeal, a historically common home kitchen ingredient, they are delicious dipped in a good sweet wine.
Christianity arrived early in the Veneto region, not from Rome but from Alexandria (Egypt) - the most cultured and refined city in the Mediterranean. With it our region adopted some oriental traditions, like the blessed Christmas bread and the Easter sweet bread. There's also a regional adaptation - an old baker from Treviso mixed his bread dough with butter, eggs and honey, and sometimes almonds, to create a soft and light cake which he offered to his customers for the Easter holidays. It's said that, in the past, this fugassa, was also prepared for engagement ceremonies and given to the girl's family with a ring hidden inside.
It is not surprising that, alongside the tradition of these tasty morsels and delicacies, the vine and wine culture has also been handed down through the centuries. Both as the inspiration or even an ingredient of tasty recipes, and of course as an incomparable accompaniment to good food.