Tag: Venice

The cocktail that pays tribute to the beauty of Venice – Italian Cuisine

The Riva Lounge of the Gritti Palace in Venice pays tribute to the beauty of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute with a special basil drink. It's called Basil-ica. Here is the recipe, for a special aperitif

The Riva Lounge of the Gritti Palace Venice is probably the place with the most comfortable chairs on the entire planet. It is because – as the name implies – the furnishings are cared for by the prestigious Lombard brand of yachts and luxury boats, a true champion in terms of comfort. Yet, despite the screams of joy from the back and derrière, this is not what makes the terrace of the historic Venetian hotel special. Yes, because even if you raise your eyes from your table for even a moment you can be struck by the beauty of the Grand Canal, with its characteristic buzz of gondolas and various ferries. But above all by the majesty of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, which stands out in all its elegance beyond the water, a few tens of meters away.

Between Basilica and Basilico

And that's how it is Cristiano Luciani, head barman of the Gritti terrace, thought it well to pay homage to this wonderful postcard view by creating a special drink. The Basilica, in this case, is reflected in a fragrant ingredient, its almost homonymous: basil. Top the glasses then for the Basilica, a new alternative for a perfect Venetian-style toast. «Despite seeing the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute practically every day, I never get tired of its beauty, the bartender tells us, «and all the guests of our hotel fully agree. So I thought about dedicating her a drink, playing with words and inserting basil into the recipe, together with gin, St. Germain and a few drops of bitters . The result is a fresh and particularly aromatic cocktail, which can also be prepared at home as an aperitif following the recipe below.

Basil-ica, the recipe

Ingredients

5 cl of gin
2 cl of St. Germain
3 drops of Orange Bitter
Basil leaves

Method

Pass 5 basil leaves in the glass to give the glass the right aromatic notes.
Pour the ingredients into the glass with plenty of ice.
Mix and decorate with an orange twist and 3 basil leaves.

Venice is on its knees, we save Venice – Italian Cuisine

From the creamed cod mixed with the magnums provided by the Bisol family. Solidarity initiatives

Damages for "hundreds of millions" of euros. The record tide devastated Venice: on November 12, high water flooded the downtown stores, bars and restaurants, and flooded historic places like the crypt of the Basilica of San Marco, while the short circuits caused fire in houses, monuments, clubs and shops. And now it will be time to rebuild, try to start again after the last dramatic hours. Many families on the islands are suffering serious difficulties, and the younger ones help the elderly who often live alone in houses on the ground floor. But Venice now needs everyone's help.

The Bisols magnums

The Bisol family, owner of the starred restaurant Venissa and the adjacent vineyard (which was completely submerged: only in spring will we know how many plants will survive), to support the community, has decided to make available to collectors and wine lovers six magnums of old vintages of the Venissa wine, which had been kept aside for the family cellar. These are precious bottles that start at a value of 990 euros for the most recent year, that of 2014, reaching almost 5 thousand euros for the 2010 vintage. The proceeds will be totally donated to the families affected.

The solidary codfish

Another charity initiative was launched by Florentine chef Paolo Gori, patron of the historic and award-winning Trattoria da Burde. "I don't know how much damage there will be then, in our imagination they are rich merchants and great gentlemen, but in need no one has to feel," he explained on his social media. «There is art, crafts and work under water. And also a person. Have you ever been under a wave? Keeping in mind how big it is? I don't know how to restore, I don't know why the Moses is not yet in operation, but I can cook ". Thus Gori, who still remembers the flood that struck Florence in 1966, began to serve in his restaurant, as an appetizer, creamed cod, one of the typical products of the Venetian gastronomic tradition: it will be composed of an emulsion of mounted cod, served on roasted bread seasoned with a little olive oil, it will cost 5 euros. "What I collect from this dish will be given to those in need. Gori invited colleagues to join the initiative: word of mouth on social media is working, and many Tuscan chefs and Florentine Chefs Association have decided to follow his example. A bit like it had been done for Amatrice bent by the earthquake and for Genoa after the tragedy of the collapse of the Morandi bridge.

A dedicated current account

The venues of Venice are built to cope with the phenomenon of high water, "but here we are in front of an event of epochal importance, which destroyed everything, from furnishings to the equipment of bars, restaurants, and all other types of exercises, as well as that the rest of the city ", explains Lino Stoppani, president of Fipe, the Italian Federation of Public Exercises, which together with AEPE, the Association of Bars and Restaurants in Venice, wants to concretely support the over a thousand public businesses in the city. A will be opened Bank account to raise funds to help restart activities. Furthermore "we will undertake to collect all the claims for damages and will accompany the entrepreneurs throughout the bureaucratic process to obtain the contributions to get back on their feet".

A new newsstand for Mutti

The high water also destroyed a historic Venetian newsstand, that of Walter Mutti, in Fondamenta delle Zattere. But on Gofundme a solidarity race was immediately launched which has already collected over 26 thousand euros in 48 hours: they will be used to rebuild the kiosk.

From essential goods to car passages

Meanwhile, through the Facebook group Concrete Aid to the Venetians, hot meals, accommodation, passageways, basic necessities, sheets, blankets, coats are offered from all over Italy.

Venice, NutriMenti is back, festival of gastronomic culture – Italian Cuisine

The second edition of the review organized by the Italian High School of Gastronomy Luigi Veronelli is a four-day meeting, tasting, workshop and debates with personalities from the world of wine, gastronomic criticism and culture

Food and wine: the pillars of local culture. The kitchen, agriculture and food tell us so much about the land, the people who live there and their social relationships. For all lovers of gastronomic culture, be they professionals or curious minds, in Venice, from 24 to 27 October, come back nourishments, the second edition of the festival organized byLuigi Veronelli High Italian Gastronomy School. There will be four days of meetings, tastings and debates, a large wine and table workshop in which personalities from the world of wine, food criticism and culture will participate. The appointment is on the Venetian island of San Giorgio Maggiore, overlooking the San Marco basin, where the Giorgio Cini Foundation is based.

The program

It begins Thursday 24, with the preview presentation of the Gold Guide Veronelli 2020 wines: from 2.30 pm, the editors will tell about the new edition of the first guide to Italian wines. And, in the Palladian Upper Room, the ten Suns, special prizes for the will be delivered Tales in the form of wine that best represent the competence, commitment and creativity of Italian winemakers. Then guests can taste the award-winning wines and talk with producers and curators of the guide.

The day ends with the short film Not just food !, realized within the European project Food Relations, supported by the Veronelli Seminar to focus on the study of new dynamics of hospitality and knowledge between different cultures, and to show how in the kitchen and at the table nobody is ever really foreign.

Friday the festival activities are reserved for the Scientific Committee, the Faculty and the Partners of the High Italian Gastronomy School Luigi Veronelli.

But Saturday 26 we return to deepen our knowledge of Italian wine excellences together with all the enthusiasts. It can become Gastronomi for a day and attend some lessons of the advanced course of the Veronelli High School, Walking the vineyards: places, people and the culture of Italian wine. Fabio Rizzari, authoritative signature of wine criticism, will talk about wine productions in Sicily and Sardinia, while Giuliano Boni, Vinidea's head of training, will lead a journey to discover the sensorial defects of wines. At the round table Venice All You can Eat we will talk about Venice as a theater of evolutions and degeneration of cuisine and urbanity. There will also be space for music: with Sixth Sense, by the musicologist Luca Damiani (conductor of Six Degrees, cult broadcast of Rai Radio 3) we will start for an ideal journey that combines musical pieces interpreted by Claudio Farinone, guitarist and author, and great wines offered in guided tasting.

Sunday we start again with a focus and a comparison on food communication: Write with meaning. Then, on the 90th anniversary of "La Cucina Italiana" and a few months after the bicentenary of the birth of Pellegrino Artusi, the panel discussion… And the art of eating well will investigate home cooking as a "possible revolution of daily food": at 3 pm Alberto Capatti, a historian of gastronomy, Maddalena Fossati Dondero, director of "La Cucina Italiana", Laila Tentoni, president of Casa Artusi, Massimiliano Borgia, director of the food journalism festival in Turin and Aldo Colonetti, philosopher and design historian. The festival ends with a dialogue with Annalisa Metta: in Land, wine and landscape the story of four agrarian landscapes will be combined with the tasting of as many wines selected by the editorial staff of the Gold Guide The Wines of Veronelli.

Both Saturday and Sunday, from 11 am to 5 pm, the Palladian Cenacle of the Giorgio Cini Foundation will host the Sensorium Veronelli High School, a tasting counter of wine excellences, which guests can enjoy in front of The Wedding at Cana, a masterpiece by Paolo Veronese now kept in the Louvre. There will also be sensorial focuses, tastings and masterclasses: to participate in the events it is necessary to book on the website of the High School Veronelli (here the complete program).