I was recently in Venice for Carnevale which is a grand extravagant annual affair before penitence of Lent begins. In particular, the Venetian Carnival is famous for its balls, parties and dressing up extravagantly and of course its masks.
Some of the costumes were truly magnificent and creative! I definitely developed costume envy along the way. Next time around, and I do think there will be a next time, I will make sure I either suck it up and pay up to rent a hardcore costume complete with big wig (a good rental is probably about 300-400 euros) or spend the 364 days before to design and make my own costumes.
With much of my attention taken by admiring and envying other people’s costumes, this wasn’t much of a foodie trip. We just ducked into cafes at random times when we got cold and ate random bits of food.
But we did make sure to partake of some Venetian epicurean traditions…
Fritelle di Carnevale – traditionally served at Carnevale, these are doughnut-like fritters that can be served filled or unfilled. My favourite one was studded with currants and bits of candied orange peel, sorta like a ball of hot cross deep-fried yumminess!
Bellini’s at Harry’s Bar where it all began… Created sometime in the thirties by Giuseppe Cipriani, he christened his white peach cocktail “the Bellini” (after Giovanni Bellini, the fifteenth century Venetian painter) in 1948. It is made one part white peach puree to three parts Prosecco and 100% delicious! It was too easy to drink too many of these…
travellingtummies 