When you say “Venice Carnival”, the first things you probably think about are its incredible masks and traditional balls inside ancient Venetian palazzos. But parties and costumes are not the only things that make the Carnival of Venice one of the most popular festivals in the world. In fact, during this period, you also have the chance to taste some traditional sweets you can’t eat during the rest of the year.
This is why this article will focus on Venice Carnival traditional food, precisely about sweets. Only a suggestion: forget about your diet during Carnival, Venetian sweets are as delicious as they are rich in calories.

Venice Carnival traditional food: Frittelle

You can’t imagine how old the recipe for Venetian frittelle is. Frittelle, or fritole, are a sort of doughnuts you can eat only during Venice Carnival – they are fried, and filled with raisin, cream, chocolate or apple slices.
As we said, the recipe is really old, it actually dates back to the 17th century, when the “fritoleri” (people who had the right to prepare and sell frittelle during the Serenissima Republic) were about 70. This is why the Congregation of Fritoleri was founded and the frittella become the National Sweet of Veneto.
You can find it in every bakery and pastry shop in Venice during Carnival, and you just have to decide what flavor you prefer!

A traditional dessert of Venice Carnival: Galani

Galani is the term we use to call this crispy Venice Carnival dessert, but we have to admit it: even if this sweet is so famous in Venice, it wasn’t born here. According to ancient documents, galani were invented during the Roman Empire for the Carnival period.
This Venice Carnival pastry is fried too, but isn’t as heavy as frittelle. They are made with flour, butter, sugar, and eggs and they all have an irregular but nice shape.
Try them with a lot of icing sugar on them, they’re amazing.

The Carnival of traditional sweets: Castagnole

The big Venetian Carnival fry-up won’t be complete without a plate of castagnole. According to tradition, the recipe of castagnole dates back to the 18th century, and this sweet has always been a symbol of Carnival, not only in Venice but in whole of Italy.
Castagnole are little fried balls of dough, served with icing sugar. The recipe is so easy that you can make them again at your place when you get back, but be careful, one castagnola leads to another, and there’s no way to avoid this sweet addiction!

Now that you know everything about Venice Carnival traditional food, you just need to find a typical Venetian costume and enjoy the Carnival of Venice as it best. Don’t you know where to rent a costume in Venice? Here’s an article with all our tips to find the most beautiful ones!