Rick Stein reveals why his favourite trip to Venice was when it flooded
Rick Stein doesn’t have a particular memory of first starting to cook. Brought up on a farm in the Cotswolds, life centred around the kitchen.
“I didn’t find myself really learning how to cook, I just picked it up from my mum,” he says.
It’s clear that an appreciation of good food from his childhood on the farm has served him well. Rick is now an award-winning restaurateur, and television presenter, and has written more than 20 books, drawing on his experience as a cook and his travels around the world.
It was at the age of 18 that he began his formal education as a chef, working as a trainee at The Great Western Royal Hotel in Paddington. However, six months later, he gave it all up to explore the world, with stints in Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico, and his travels have always inspired his cooking.
Italian food is among Rick’s favourite cuisines. “Having cooked and filmed in so many different parts of the world, there are great things to say about most cuisines, but I suppose my first loves were British and French, speedily followed by Italian.”
It comes as no surprise then that he is looking forward to visiting Venice, a city he knows and loves, when he joins Good Housekeeping readers on an exclusive cruise in October. “I’ve been visiting Venice regularly since my early 20s, mostly with my wife Sas. It’s a bit like the Taj Mahal. Every time is like the first; breathtaking.”
Rick fondly remembers some of his Venetian holidays. “The best trip was when it was flooded, wading through the city in wellingtons, having a beer in a bar with water nearly up to our knees, and best of all, no tourists!”
During Good Housekeeping’s eight-day cruise holiday in October, you will also be able to experience parts of the city without the crowds. The unique trip includes exclusive entry to a lighting ceremony at St Mark’s Basilica when it is closed to the general public and VIP access to Doge's Palace in the early morning.
Guests will spend seven days getting to know the Venetian Lagoon on elegant small ship S.S La Venezia. Rick will join you for the final few days, accompanying a tour to the Rialto food market before hosting an intimate cooking demonstration.
During our conversation with the celebrity chef, he says he is busy planning his dishes for the special demonstration.
“I’m planning to cook dishes from my book Rick Stein: From Venice to Istanbul with a couple from other trips,” he reveals. “There’ll definitely be a couple of pastas, a risotto and a tramezzini and some hot shellfish. Hopefully, one of these will be grilled scampi in the shell and spaghetti vongole.”
Rick is also looking forward to joining guests on a visit to Venice’s best fresh food market. “For me, the highlight of the trip will be to the Rialto fish market. I don’t think there’s anywhere with a more beautiful display of seafood in the world.”
And when it comes to seafood, Rick really knows his stuff. Following his travels as a teenager and his studies at Oxford University, he moved to Padstow, Cornwall. After a nightclub he opened was shut down he converted it into a seafood restaurant. He’s still there, nearly 50 years later, providing beautifully fresh seafood dishes across four restaurants.
The original restaurant is called The Seafood Restaurant and has developed a reputation worldwide for serving the freshest fish and shellfish from Cornish waters and creating timeless dishes with simple flavours.
“My favourite feature on virtually all of my restaurant menus is turbot with hollandaise. And it always needs to be accompanied by a glass or two of good white Burgundy.”
On Good Housekeeping’s cruise around Venice, Rick will share some of his expert culinary knowledge, honed from growing up on the farm, his travels all over the world, and his decades-long career as a successful chef and restaurateur. Guests will be invited to ask him questions about cooking following his demonstration and talk.
Rick reveals that he is particularly excited about visiting the islands of the Venetian Lagoon: “I’m looking forward to going to Burano and maybe catching up with some friends who have a restaurant there called Trattoria al Gatto Nero.”
The cruise will take readers to several enchanting islands in the Lagoon, with a stop on Torcello, where you can visit the island’s basilica, and the option to explore Burano or Mazzorbo or watch a glass-blowers at work on Murano.
At the end of your days exploring the islands, you’ll head back to the luxurious S.S La Venezia, where all of your meals, made using fresh, local ingredients, are included during the cruise.
Visit our holiday website for all the details on how to book Good Housekeeping’s exclusive eight-day cruise around Venice with Rick Stein.
You Might Also Like
