Perhaps it is the particular light in Venice but the vegetables on display in the Rialto market have uncommonly intense color. From the snowy heads of cauliflower and fennel, to the rich gold of pumpkins and the brilliant green of chard and broccoli rabe, to the scarlet of the tomatoes and intense burgundy of the ubiquitous radicchio, this is a painterly array.
Nothing defines Venice's cuisine like its seafood. No meal is complete without some sea creatures as the fruitful harvest from the surrounding lagoon and the nearby sea washes onto the plate.
"This city aboundeth with good fish," said Fynes Moryson, an English visitor in the early 17th century, when fish were sold twice daily, not only at the bustling Rialto market but also from the stalls in St. Mark's Square.
Imagine going to market every day, selecting the most appealing heads of lettuce and bunches of herbs, being tempted by purple-tinged artichokes the size of plums, rosy-hued red mullet not long out of the sea, freshly quarried slabs of Parmesan cheese, and painterly red-speckled beans. The essence of cooking in Venice begins in the market.
Here are some of the basic ingredients along with the guidelines for selection and storage.
Anchovies: Anchovies are imported. Some of the best large and meaty fillets are sold in bulk in Italian fish markets or come canned from the south of Spain.
Venice, La Serenissima, once supreme in its world, is ever sublime. This floating tapestry of 117 islands, a fantasy of lacy bridges and shrouded alleyways, of gilded palaces and dark canals, of romance and mystery, of fleeting images and lingering reflection, is a city of mists and sunshine that exists at the mercy of the moon-driven tides.
