CICHETI & NIZIOETI
CICHETI & NIZIOETI
“Cicheti & Nizioeti” is a gourmet discovery tour around the bustling Rialto market and other central areas. During this tour, we’ll see the city slow down around 6.00 p.m. or so, and Venetians finally meet up to relax, eat, drink and gossip! First of all, “Cicheti & Nizioeti” is a sensory experience…..
We shall share the same pleasures, by tasting wine paired with some mouth-watering cicheti, i. e. finger food. There is tremendous variety, and options include anything from simple cheese or salami to almost any kind of seafood, fried and grilled vegetables, sweet and sour sardines, baby artichokes, creamy codfish, and much, much more!
Local wine bars are popularly known as bàcari, a term originating from the wine god Bacchus.
During your “Cicheti & Nizioeti” tour you will find a great variety of local wines (Soave, Prosecco, Cabernet, Valpolicella) and a good selection from all Italian regions: Tuscany, Piedmont, Trentino, Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Puglia and Sicily to name the most important.
You’ll also notice a good number of people drinking red or orange spritz, and you’ll be told about the origin of this word and the different versions of this popular drink.
Street names contain so much history in Venice that simply wandering from place to place and reading the nizioleti, (small sheets, i. e. street signs) we can learn much about this old town, its people, activities, and traditions.
Bancogiro, for instance, was the banking area at the foot of Rialto Bridge where the international merchants met. Botteri (= coopers) was the street where wine and oil barrels were produced. Nearby, an unusual doorway with an opening in the shape of a barrel indicates the presence of wine storage. Stua was a sort of Turkish bath, frequented by sailormen and prostitutes. Today this once ill-famed corner is quiet and residential. Not far is Corte del Teatro, reminding us that the oldest public theater in Europe used to be here. Malvasia was an expensive sweet beverage, produced in Greece and Crete, then shipped to Venice, the so-called “vini navigata”. Due to its high alcohol rate, it was easy to transport and more durable than regular wines. Its flavor was very distinctive, enriched by a broad spectrum of aromas: an ideal commodity for both the clergy and nobility, eager to display their power through food selection. Those who could afford to pay for such rare products joined the Malvasie, wine bars especially meant for Middle East wines. But the finest one was from Rhodes isle, including three different types: an ordinary Rhodes, the 15 years old ‘Commandaria’ and the Moscato, much more costly than the others. Today Moscato is classified as an aromatic grape grown in the province of Padua and produced as a delicate sparkling wine perfect for Venetian cookies. “Cicheti & Nizioeti” is a late afternoon tour and is not recommended to teetotalers!Continue reading
HIGHLIGHTS
- Venetian fingerfood with excellent local wines
- Backstreet walk into Medieval Rialto area
- Venetian facts and characters through ancient street signs
MORE ABOUT
THIS TOUR
Wherever you go in Venice, you’ll always come across an “Osteria” – wine bar- and see people holding a glass of wine.
It seems strange in a city surrounded by so much water! Nevertheless, wine trade has always been very profitable, and the Rialto area was the ideal market for the “Nectar from Heaven” in the Medieval age.
The wine business was entirely under the control of the Public Authority. Strict State laws regulated the production, sale, duties of each barrel, and the opening hours of taverns throughout the city.
At the Rialto, drinking wine was permitted until 3 am, until the toll of St. James’s bell.
However, wine was often diluted with water, strictly forbidden, or flavored with spices to hide the sour aromas.
Food was quite basic and tasty, “fried fish of the day,” rice-based soups, liver with onions, baked cod, and in winter, roasted squash or chestnuts.
Continue reading
The famous adventurer Giacomo Casanova mentioned in his memoir “hot pumpkin fritters” at the market.
It seems that deep-fry food was a delicacy Venetians couldn’t resist. Crispy cheese balls, deep-fried wild asparagus, baby artichoke tempura, and sardines seasoned with pork fat. In the early 20th cent. about 1290 taverns operated in Venice, one for every 124 inhabitants!
The wine bars were often the only warm public place when stoves at home were not that popular.
In the last 100 years, lifestyle has improved so much. We have learned to drink and eat much better, “bons vivants” can still trust Venice!
Today street food knows no crisis but is not served outdoor anymore.
European rules do not allow cooks to prepare food in peddler kiosks, for hygienic reasons. All sorts of appetizers, tiny sandwiches, snacks prepared in wine bars, then sold on-site cannot last over 24 hours.
Produce are fresh and seasonal, due to a large number of people willing to have an appetizer dish rather than a whole menu for lunch.
You will enjoy the variety of wines available at each traditional bar, with much emphasis on local wines made from regional grapes.
Now get ready for an intriguing experience, and enjoy!
DRESS CODE AND ADVICE
- No dress code required
COST
- This tour lasts two hours and costs 210 euros up to six people (not per person), only private parties. For larger parties send us an email!
- Wine and fingerfood are NOT included.
- We don’t advise to select this tour if you don’t like wine or if you don’t like standing, eating, drinking at the same time…!
- Also, when it’s too hot, in July and August, better choose another tour…maybe with gelato!
CONTACT US
WALKS INSIDE ITALY
ART CITY WALKS aff. Network Giv
San Polo 1541 30125 VENICE, ITALY
C.F. e P. Iva 04331170276
Prot. 2016/16140 del 25-2-2016
Polizza Europ Assistance 8957877
