Cicchetti

Cicchetti (also sometimes spelled "cichetti" or called "cicheti" in Venetian language) are small snacks or side dishes, typically served in traditional "bàcari" (cicchetti bars or osterie) in Venice, Italy. Common cicchetti include tiny sandwiches, plates of olives or other vegetables, halved hard boiled eggs, small servings of a combination of one or more of seafood, meat and vegetable ingredients laid on top of a slice of bread or polenta, and very small servings of typical full-course plates. Like Spanish tapas, one can also make a meal of cicchetti by ordering multiple plates. Normally not a part of home cooking, the cicchetti’s importance lies not just in the food itself, but also in how, when and where they are eaten: with fingers and toothpicks, usually standing up, hanging around the counter where they are displayed in numerous bars, osterie and bacari that offer them virtually all day long. Venice's many cicchetti bars are quite active during the day, as Venetians (and tourists) typically eat cicchetti in the late morning, for lunch, or as afternoon snacks. Cicchetti are usually accompanied by a small glass of local white wine, which the locals refer to as an "ombra" (shadow).

Contents

• Courgette zucchini and parmesan crocchette a deliciously simple cicchetti recipe
• Smoked salmon horseradish crostini canapes cicchetti recipe how to make appetizer hor d oeuvres
• Cicchetti in the United States
• References

One of the most enjoyable aspects of Venetian social life is contained in the phrase: let’s go to the shadow, in italian language “andemo a ombra” is an invitation to go for a drink, and more exactly a small glass of wine (a shadow), which typically drink in one shot.

The expression is a prompt of the period in which the wine were transferred in the “Riva degli Schiavoni” and then sold in shaded stands, which were located at the base of the Bell Tower of San Marco; when the sun was rotating, the stands were moved, so they could continue to stay in the shade.

Rest at a bar at any time of the day and will not be long before you see a client come in for a cicheto. Sometimes it also happens to meet into a group of people, he is doing a tour of shadows, the Venetian version to go out for drinks.

Cicchetti is the plural form. A single piece of cicchetti is a cicchetto.