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The Rialto Fish Market Five Course Dinner

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The Rialto Fish Market Five Course Dinner

I needed to prepare a five course dinner for New Year’s Eve. As luck would have it, I was in Venice and a friend of mine knew a fish guy.  My friend had arranged to meet with me earlier in a bar for a cappuccino and we walked fast-paced across the maze of streets of La Rialto, where he introduced me to another guy who knew the fish guys that sold the good stuff. I felt a little like Jason Bourne. Abutting the Erberia, the vegetable market, is the Pescheria, one of the highlights of any visit to Venice.  You will see fish you’ve never seen: eels in the winter time, scallops in their shells, swordfish with their beaks on and razor clams called cape onghe.

I had decided that I would wait to prepare the menu until I saw what I had. I was introduced to the Fish Guy; I looked around. I would start with 10 large scallops. I would grill them in their shell with some oil and garlic. Then I was going to follow this with grilled razor clams. I would follow the razor clams with two pastas, one with small shrimp and zucchini and the other using artichoke that were in season that I planned to grab from the Erberia, and then finish off with a zuppa di pesce, which sounds decidedly better than its name in English – Fish Soup.

He asked me how I would do it. I felt the answer had to be good or he might turn me away. I would start with a fennel and onion base (he nodded slowly), add some tomatoes (ok)…then I told him I needed a good fish head or two for the broth (I’ve piqued his curiosity!), and then I would create a broth that I could empty the raw fish into for the last 10 minutes of preparation! He looked at me and said come back in 15 minutes. I returned and he’d neatly prepared bags for every course. In the fish soup there were scallops and langostina, a little monkfish, and all placed in at the very end, topped with tiny toasted pieces of bread with a dollop of aioli on them. We served the soup at 1am in the morning, having celebrated the fireworks in St. Marks at midnight. It wouldn’t have been possible without “my guy. “

 

Top 5 Things You Shouldn’t Miss in Venice

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Top 5 Things You Shouldn’t Miss in Venice

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Not many things in the world can beat the buzz of the water taxi from Marco Polo to the center of town. We had arranged to stay in an apartment near the Ponte dei Greci, a delightful neighborhood set 10 minutes back from St. Mark’s Square and a ten-minute cut through to the Rialto.

We ended up in a fabulous palazzo built around 1550 by the Cubli family. It’s run by Roberta, a charming woman who in between managing the Palazzo was also a local Venetian guide.  Venice is a great city to get lost in but if you’ve only got a short while, Roberta will get you to all the right spots.

I adore Venice in the winter; we took the Vaporetto, It’s expensive at €7 for 60 minutes, so if you can skip it, it’s more fun to walk, get lost and discover. Even if you take my advice and get lost, these are 5 destinations in Venice that you should make a point to find:

  1. Bacari. Venice does wine well; spending your entire trip with a wine glass permanently attached to your lips is an idea worth considering. That’s Venice provides a good guide to Bacari, Venice wine bars. rialto-fish-market
  2. Rialto Fish Market. The Pescheria has been THE place to get fish since the 1000s. Even if you’re not in the market for fish, you should head to the Rialto Fish Market for the people watching.  DSC_5114
  3. Jewish Ghetto in Cannaregio.  Next year is the 500th Anniversary of the Jewish ghetto and it was just announced that the historical area will be revitalized in a $12 Million dollar project.
  4. Marco Polo Airport Water bus (vaporetto)  €15 will get you from the terminals to Venice. Need at least two people! If you’re traveling solo (does anyone travel to Venice solo?) it’s the perfect excuse to make friends on the plane!
  5. Santa Maria della Salute. Completed in 1687 – you can just call it the “Salute” or health.  It was built after the plague took out a third of Venice’s population.