July 2018 - Eternal Italy: Venice

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​Glossy fat pigeons
On the Rialto Bridge
Peck at biscotti crumbs.

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​The golden city of Venice sparkles with sunlight dancing on the blue Adriatic, falling softly on the canals that serve as streets and celebrating the jeweled domes of St. Mark’s Cathedral, the most beautiful church in the world. Venice is a city of luminous art and architecture and numinous music, curving cobblestone byways and shadowy stone homes that have stood on the same courtyards for centuries. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is comprised of 118 small islands in a lagoon surrounded by the Adriatic in the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. Four hundred bridges connect the islands and canals that comprise the old city of Venice. And four hundred licensed gondoliers ply their slender boats, decorated in Renaissance style, up and down the canals, ferrying locals and tourists alike from once location to another in this labyrinth of waterways where no cars or trucks are to be found.
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​Venice is an ancient place, and every moment of its long history still seems to be alive. In the old outdoor marketplace on the dock, ladies come daily to buy clams to prepare for lunch, their poodles in tow as sea gulls observe the transactions, watchful for a tidbit that might fall to the cobblestones.
 
One imagines Marco Polo himself, Venice’s most famous resident, stepping onto the same dock, returned from his adventures on the Silk Road all the way to China, and ready to share one of the world’s first works of travel literature, The Adventures of Marco Polo, with all of Europe.

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​The empty market
Under the new moon. The smell
Of fresh fish remains.

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Venice’s location in the far eastern corner of Europe provided a perfect starting point for this city, populated since the Tenth Century BC, to serve as the trade route to Asia where spices and silks were exchanged for grain. Venice has always been open and welcoming to cultural and artistic influences from far-flung locations, and throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a unique style of Venetian art and architecture developed. The Byzantine Empire, centered in Constantinople, and even the Moorish art of Spain influenced some of Venice’s most beautiful buildings, notably the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Cathedral, located on the same gloriously beautiful square in the middle of Old Venice.

​Since ancient times, the Republic of Venice was governed by a Doge, elected by members of the aristocratic families. The first Doge, Paolo Anafesto, was chosen to manage the city in 697 of the current era. The Palazzo Ducale, home of each successive Doge, was constructed of stone and brick in the Venetian Gothic style in 1340 and served as the seat of government for Venice. Visitors can tour this elegantly ornate and beautifully maintained complex, now a museum. The Palace’s iconic style, with its ground floor arcade with arches supported by columns beneath a second -floor loggia, has inspired countless imitations throughout the world. Part of the Palace faces St. Mark’s Cathedral, and another section overlooks the lagoon. The Doge’s Palace is especially impressive when viewed from the water.

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​The golden domes of
St. Mark’s and flocks of pigeons
Glisten in light rain.

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Venice is a city of symbols and iconography, and nowhere is this vision from the spiritual imagination more beautifully realized than at St. Mark’s Cathedral. Completed in 1092, St. Mark’s Basilica is the finest example of Italian Byzantine architecture, characterized by domes and arches and iconographic images of the major figures in Christian history. Both the exterior and interior are covered in gold mosaic tiles which sparkle with heart-stopping beauty in sunlight, moonlight and rain. Once the chapel of the Doge, St. Mark’s is now the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Venice. It was built to house the remains of St. Mark, the Evangelist, retrieved from Alexandria in 828. One of the central symbolic compositions on the exterior of the Basilica is the statue of St. Mark surrounded by gold-winged angels above the gable where a gold winged lion sculpture stands against a blue mosaic background emblazoned with gold stars. This depiction of St. Mark as a winged lion, is now the symbol of Venice herself.

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After visiting St. Mark’s, I hope you will save some time to wander aimlessly through Venice, walking with no agenda through the labyrinth of ancient narrow streets, bridges and courtyards, ready for whatever surprise might present itself at any given turn. It is exhilarating to be lost in Venice. Indeed, it is a revelation to feel lost and safe at the same time. How many Americans would relish the thought of being lost on foot in the middle of New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles? 
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​On one of our undirected wanderings, Wayne and I stumbled upon the charming Museo della Musica, a small, free museum located in the exquisitely restored San Maurizio church. This little gem is dedicated to the classical music of Venice, and in particular the Venetian art of violin making. A lovely collection of antique musical instruments, some more than three hundred years old, is on display—violins, cellos, harps and other seldom seen instruments. The museum also contains information about Vivaldi, Venice’s most famous musician.
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'​Antonio Vivaldi lived from 1678 to 1741 and became one of the most beloved Baroque composers throughout Europe during his own lifetime. Ordained into the clergy, Vivaldi was fondly referred to by his fellow Venetians as The Red Priest because of the color of his hair. At the age of twenty-five, Vivaldi became the violin master of an orphanage, where he wrote religious choral music for the children to perform. Throughout his career, he wrote 40 operas and numerous instrumental works. His series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons is his most famous composition and is still performed by orchestras throughout the world today. If you have never heard The Four Seasons, you can find any number of recordings of this hauntingly beautiful piece to play on your phone or car radio as you jog, drive or wander through your day. Like Venice’s glorious canals and the shimmering domes of St. Mark's, The Four Seasons will change your life forever.
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After visiting Venice, you will be eternally hungry for beauty. This is the city of the painters Bellini, Tiepolo, Tintoretto and Titian, the composers Albinoni and Monteverdi and the home of the glorious Murano glass, still being produced on an island among the Venetian waterways. Venice is also a city where anyone can get a good meal at even the most modest neighborhood café and every morning begins with a perfect cup of cappuccino.

​The cuisine of Venice draws on the entire country of Italy for inspiration although seafood of course is in the forefront. Other popular foods in Venice include fresh vegetables from the countryside, rice, polenta, antipasti and the popular sweet wine, prosecco. I mentioned and provided a recipe for Tiramisu in last month’s blog (June 2018) on Milan. This modern Italian dessert comes from the Veneto region where Venice is located.

A culinary symbol of Venice, almost as famous as the winged golden lion of St. Mark’s Cathedral, is a very simple, not very sweet cookie called Baicoli, better known in its plural form as Baicoli. Baicoli are a type of very thin and dry Biscotti invented in Venice in the Eighteenth Century. They were designed to travel on ships over long voyages and thus, the dry texture allows them to stay fresh like crackers for extended periods of time. Baicoli are oval shaped, like a sea bass, from which their name is derived. These little golden cookies are popular in Venice served with coffee or zabaglione into which they are dipped for dessert.

​A famous commercial version of Baicoli has been produced by Angelo Colussi since 1880. They are packaged in an iconic yellow metal box with a picture of a lady and a gentleman dressed in red Eighteenth Century costumes as the gentleman offers a box of these treats to the lady. How beautifully Baicoli capture the historic charm and elegance of Venice. 
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Another splendid Venetian dessert is Fregolotta, translated into English as “One Big Crumb.” I have seen Fregolotta referred to as either a giant crumbly cookie or a crumb cake. Whatever it is called, this pastry is a heavenly combination of butter, flour, polenta, cinnamon and loads of toasted almonds. Local lore says that Fregolotta was invented more than one hundred years ago at the family owned bakery Pasticceria Zizzola, where this cake (or cookie) is still available. I baked one at home and found it very easy to make and exquisitely delicious. Here is the recipe. Next month our fantasy summer in Italy will continue. We will meet in Rome.

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Fregolotta
(Italian Crumb Cake)
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​I have seen recipes for Fregolotta that call for the inclusion of dried cranberries and mini chocolate chips. Though this may produce a very tasty cake, I prefer the more traditional version that relies on almonds for its primary flavor and texture.

• 1 ½ cups whole almonds, toasted
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1 cup flour
• ¼ cup polenta or finely ground corn meal
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Powdered sugar for dusting
• Cooking spray for preparing the pan

 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
 
Special equipment: large foil covered baking sheet, 9” springform pan, lined with parchment, food processor, medium sized mixing bowl, fork, flour sifter or sieve, wire rack, rubber spatula, sharp knife
 
Makes: 8-16 servings

1. Toast 1 ½ cups whole almonds in the pre-heated oven on a foil-lined baking sheet for 10 minutes. Cool the sheet on a wire rack. Spray a 9” springform pan with cooking spray, cut a circle to parchment to fit the bottom of the pan, and spray the parchment in the pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Reserve ½ cup of whole almonds and place 1 cup of the cooled almonds in a food processor and pulse until they are very finely chopped. Transfer the chopped almonds to a medium sized mixing bowl and sift the flour, polenta, cinnamon and salt over the almonds. Stir with a fork to combine.
3. Place the butter, brown sugar and white sugar in the food processor (no need to clean it after processing the almonds.) Process until the mixture is very light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and pulse until well combined. Add the vanilla and almond extract and pulse briefly until the flavorings are incorporated
4. Add the chopped almonds and dry ingredients mixture to the food processor and pulse until no flour is visible. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Press the remaining whole almonds evenly over the top of the batter.
5. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes and cut into wedges with a sharp knife (or simply break the cookie into chunks.) Cool completely and sift powdered sugar over the top before serving.
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