Cicchetti (pronounced chi-KET-ee) are Venice's small bites — served in bacari (traditional Venetian wine bars) on the counter, on toothpicks, or on small plates, alongside an ombra (a small glass of wine — the word means "shadow," from the tradition of drinking in the shade of the Campanile di San Marco). Cicchetti are Venice's answer to Spanish tapas, but older, more democratic, and more varied. A bacaro crawl (giro di ombre) through Venice — visiting 3–4 bacari, eating 2–3 cicchetti at each with a glass of wine — is the Venetian equivalent of a multi-course meal, conducted standing at the counter, in conversation, over 2 hours.
Cicchetti vary from bar to bar but include: baccalà mantecato on polenta (see IT-R11), sarde in saor (sardines in sweet-sour onion and raisin marinade — the agrodolce principle again, via Venice's eastern Mediterranean trade), polpette (small fried meatballs or fish balls), tramezzini (triangular crustless sandwiches — Venice's unique contribution to sandwich culture), crostini with various toppings (artichoke, baccalà, liver paté), boiled octopus with olive oil and lemon, fried soft-shell crab (moeche — harvested during the brief window when the crabs have shed their shells).
- **Standing, not sitting.** Cicchetti are eaten at the counter. Sitting at a table changes the price, the atmosphere, and the experience. The democracy of the bacaro is that the banker and the gondolier eat the same food at the same counter. - **Moeche are the ultimate seasonal cicchetto.** Soft-shell crabs, available only during two brief windows in spring and autumn, are dipped in egg and flour and fried whole. They are available for approximately 2–3 weeks per season. When they are in season, every bacaro has them; when they are not, they are gone. - **Sarde in saor is the Venetian agrodolce.** Sardines fried and then marinated in onions cooked with vinegar, raisins, and pine nuts. The sweet-sour marinade preserves the fish and develops over 24–48 hours. This is the same Arab-influenced agrodolce as Sicilian caponata, arriving in Venice through the eastern Mediterranean trade routes.
ITALIAN REGIONAL DEEP — THE FIVE KINGDOMS