The Venetian cicchetti

The cicchetti, or in Venetian dialect cicheti, are appetizers generally composed of a piece of bread, on which cold cuts, vegetables, or fish are placed. They summarize the typical Venetian quick meal paired with a glass of wine, the true essence of conviviality.

Cicchetti, ombre, bacari: the Venetian socializing

The origin of the term cicchetto is unclear. Some sources link it to the Latin word ciccus, literally the membrane that covers the pomegranate grains and which figuratively means small quantity, others bring it closer to the French chiqueter, meaning “to chop”. In everyday life, what we mean here in Venice by "cicheti" identifies just "tastings", small appetizers, a sort of local "finger food" that matches with the ombra de vin, the spritz or the aperitif which to us means a real moment of socializing.

According to tradition, the cicchetto is paired to the "ombra de vin", a glass of wine, a way of saying that derives from the custom of the Venetian merchants to place the wine cool under the shadow of the Saint Mark’s bell tower.

Venetian cicchetti are usually offered in bacari, the typical small local taverns with few seats, where we usually eat by standing at the counter.

The Venetian cichetti to taste

In Venice the aperitif moment is experienced as an opportunity to meet friends and acquaintances. Happy hour sometimes extends over time and ends with lunch or dinner with cicheti. Each restaurant offers different recipes, but here we point out some very common and definitely worth tasting: creamed cod, sardines in saor, polenta and sopressa, cuttlefish, folpetti, schie and others, instead, with vegetables, such as cichetti with the famous and tasty artichokes from the Sant'Erasmo island, mozzarella in carrozza and fried zucchini flowers.

In the menu of our Ristorante La Rivista we offer a selection of Venetian cicchetti: come and taste them for a quick meal or to accompany your aperitif.