Where to eat "negro squid ink pasta" with cuttlefish?
 

A friend recommended we try out the "negro squid ink pasta" with cuttlefish. Has anyone tried it ? Looking for good restaurants in Italy that would have this pasta on their menu, specifically Sorrento, Rome, Florence and Venice. Thanks in advance.

There's a bit of confusion. Where's this "negro" coming from? And are we talking squid or cuttlefish here?

I THINK you want Pasta (or spaghetti, or...) al nero di seppie. Translates as 'pasta (or...) with cuttle-fish ink'. You wouldn't go to the trouble of using the ink sacs from cuttlefish with squid flesh: you just separate the sacs when you're preparing the cuttlefish, then add their ink towards the end.

It tastes pretty un-unusual, not very different from any other squid or cuttlefish pasta sauce. It just looks odd, because it's such a deeply black sauce, and the pasta gets stained black.

No idea of anywhere special to get it: it's pretty much a restaurant standard all over the place. Certainly almost anywhere specialising in seafood is reasonably likely to have it.

I think it might be arroz negro although that is paella but pasta can be coloured with squid or cuttlefish ink.

Anyone who can find "arroz negro" in Italy could give Sherlock Holmes lessons in detection. Or rather, could give Conan Doyle lessons in creativity.

Funny habits these Italians have. They speak Italian.

Weird, isn't it?

I had squid in its own ink with polenta in a little place near the Zattere wharf. No idea what it's called - past the tourist traps, right at the end on RHS as you face the water.
It was sublime, and is still my benchmark. As Flanner says, you can get squid ink pasta just about anywhere, but this was something special. I only discovered it because I asked the waiter what he was having for lunch.

I'm not sure you can get it just about anywhere but it can be found in many Venice restaurants. The first time I tried it at Al Covo in Venice and it was delicious. The second time I tried it at a small restaurant near the Zattere and it was pretty terrible. It is worth a try.

I've enjoyed it at Corte Sconta,3886 Calle del Pestrin,VeneziaVenice, Italy, 30124+39 041 522 7024, near St Mark's. It is a typical trattoria with lovely garden dining under arbors.They mainly serve seafood

You are going to find this dish in Venice and probably not anywhere else.

I agree that this dish (as described correctly by flanneruk) is found in many restaurants in Venice--it is a local specialty. I've also seen risotto al nero on a menu or two in Rome, but that is much less predictable.

This is a common dish in Venice and one I order daily when there.

Polenta al nero di seppie is a dish very well prepared at Osteria Giorgione in Venice. And tagliatelle al nero di seppie is very good at A Tre Spiedi, also in Venice.

Try the Ristorante Riveria on the Zattere. http://www.ristoranteriviera.it/. Not inexpensive but well worth it.

You'll find it, as mentioned, mainly in Venice. But I did have a lovely version of it in Anzio.

That terminology is all weird, though. Use flanneruk's if you actually want to order it.

flanneruk has described the dish very well, though it's doesn't make just the colour darker, but also the flavour, so to speak. Yes, I'm absolutely sure, even in a blind tasting, this is a taste that I would describe as "dark". The ink adds a slightly pungent note to the cuttlefish that is faintly similar to sea urchin.
And yes, it's definitely a Venetian dish - only! If you find it anywhere else, it's a foreign specialty, no matter whether in Anzio, Singapore or New York City.
The best place to sample it, IME, is Taverna Capitan Uncino (in Venice, of course).

Mr. Flanner Holmes: Take a look at this rice I brought home from Piemonte last year.

(I will not however, seek it out again)




http://www.risovenere.it/default.php?l=en

NB - oohlala - it stains the teeth so you might want to have any photos taken BEFORE the meal, not afterwards!

"<i>it stains the teeth so you might want to have any photos taken BEFORE the meal, not afterwards!</i>"

The OP probably won't worry about staining his (or her) teeth - he's bringing his own blueberries after all :)

(another tale from another thread)

Al nero di seppie it is then!
A lot of good information and so many restaurant recommendations. Thank you, all!
Good suggestion, Annhig.
Janisj, the blueberries will be gone in a day or two in Paris but you are right, I won't worry about staining my teeth, black or blue! :-) I love seafood even more than blueberries!!!

FLanner- you DO know that "negro" in Spanish means black, don't you?

"<i> . . . "negro" in Spanish means black, don't you?</i>"

okaaay(?) And all along I thought we were talking about . . . <B>ITALY</B>.

Yes to add to Tomboy, the dish is popular in Spain so maybe this is how OP got the wires crossed. My Italian mother (born in Padova near Venice) used to make Riso e Seppie - cuttlefish and rice. I'm a fish lover but this was one of the rare times I couldn't stomach it. It's presentation for starters, a gooey black mass that seemed to stain everything! And quite a strong fishy smell and taste. Still the dish is very popular nonetheless. You might also like to try pasta e vongole (baby clams). Buon appetito :)