By Sandi Masori
VENICE, Italy — For as long as I can remember I’ve dreamed of visiting Venice. Something about the idea of a city that had only canals and no roads captured my imagination in a way that few other places had. My son Shor has been studying the past year for a master’s in international affairs at the Johns Hopkins University campus in Bologna. So, once I determined that I was coming out for his graduation, I knew that I had to make that bucket list item of visiting Venice also come true.
I knew from attending Ali Viterbi’s talk in San Diego last year about the Jews and Jewish foods of Italy that there were Jewish ghettos all around Italy, and that the word ghetto itself came from here. What I learned while being here in Italy is that Venice was the first ghetto.
Bologna is a beautiful city whose main food groups could be summed up with three Ps- pasta, pizza and pig. Actually, in Bologna in general I struggled to get enough protein as it’s all so pig-dependent.
So, coming to Venice we decided to stay right on the edge of the Jewish ghetto (in a hotel that was once a monastery). And though Venice’s Jewish community is small, only around 450 members, the area has a robust selection of kosher restaurants, both for the local population and tourists alike. Venice has a total residential population of only 48,000 people but sees 30 million visitors come through every year. It makes sense that kosher restaurants could do well here.
Walking through the Jewish quarter my heart swelled to see the shops proudly showing their Judaic wares, and to see the outsides of the synagogue and visibly Jewish people milling around.
We chose to go to Ba’Ghetto, which means “in the ghetto” in Hebrew because I was curious about their specialty of Judeo-Romano food. The restaurant itself is spacious, clean and inviting. When you enter there’s a corridor with a large wine selection, and a few different dining rooms. We sat on the end with the canal view.
The menu is a mix of Israeli standards, and their specialty, the Judeo-Romano cuisine. We opted to try only the Judeo-Romano dishes, so I cannot comment on the flavor or authenticity of the Israeli dishes.
Once seated we were greeted by a waiter who hailed from Cameroon. Perhaps because Shor’s school friend Andre, who joined us for the day, is Korean; Shor looks somewhat Italian, and I’ve been told I don’t “look Jewish,” so the waiter proceeded to try to explain to us the limitations of a kosher menu- namely the lack of pork and dairy.
The first thing they do is bring out a bag of bread and olive oil so you can make Motzi. Then, on the waiter’s suggestion, we ordered the Jewish style artichoke, the spaghetti Carbonara style; the spaghetti with truffle, beef tartare and lemon thyme; baked lamb with potatoes, and cod Jewish style.
The Jewish artichoke was lightly fried but not breaded. The flavor was both sweet and salty and did not feel overly oily. We all really liked it.
Though it’s actually a Roman dish, the spaghetti carbonara is everywhere in Bologna, but as this dish is usually prepared with pig lard and some form of pork, it wasn’t something I could try. I was excited to see a version of it on the kosher menu. Obviously, it was a bit different than traditional carbonara, missing the pig and the cream, but since I’ve never had the real one, it seemed pretty good to me, and still had a creaminess- perhaps coming from the egg yolks.
The baked lamb was cooked well with a crunchy rind of fat that easily peeled off, tender and flavorful, but not especially spiced or different than lamb from anywhere else.
The Jewish cod was pretty amazing- that was my favorite. It was a little like Moroccan fish, but without the spiciness or carrots. The flavor was a little tangy. It was a tomato-based stew with potatoes, raisins, and pine nuts, with chunks of cod in it.
I didn’t have the truffle spaghetti as I don’t eat mushrooms or truffles (they give me gastric issues) but Shor and Andre seemed to enjoy it. I did get a taste of the tartare and that was pretty good- it had a hint of sweetness to it.
When I asked Shor and Andre for their thoughts, they said:
“I tasted the cod and I could feel my payis growing” – Shor
“It’s my first time trying kosher Romano food, and it’s perfect” – Andre
Most people in the restaurant seemed to be enjoying the Israeli dishes, I guess they were looking for the more familiar flavor profiles, whereas I wanted to try the unfamiliar and surprising.
One thing I found interesting is that this was the first restaurant that I’ve been to in Europe where they expected a tip, as noted on the top of the receipt where it was written that service is not included. I guess because they get so many tourists coming through, especially American ones, they’ve grown accustomed to it.
The thing that I liked the best, though the food was good, was that for the first time since I arrived in Europe, when Andre asked me my thoughts on current events, I felt comfortable actually telling him without looking over my shoulder or worrying who might be listening. I knew that in that room, while we might have different tastes in what food was on our plate, on that topic we were united.
All in all, if you find yourself in Italy, make time to see Venice and to spend some time in the Jewish quarter. While you’re there check out Ba’Ghetto.
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Sandi Masori is a food and theater reviewer for San Diego Jewish World.