ek, I'm terribly sorry, but that recipe is making me shudder from the first to the last line. PLEASE check how to make baccalà mantecato on my Venetian food thread. I swear baccalà mantecato doesn't get any better than that.
Btw, at Capitan Uncino, you can have tagliatelle instead of spaghetti al nero di seppia. Honestly, I think it's better with pasta than as a risotto. Or, alternatively, as a secondo piatto, with grilled polenta.

ekscrunchy, thanks for the recipe.
I like any other pasta (linguini, fettucini, farfalle, angel hair, ziti, penne, ravioli etc.) except spaghetti. I don't quite know what I have against spaghetti but I never order it in a restaurant or make it at home. I have had it before...a long time ago and didn't care for it, may be because of the way it was made but I avoid it quite judiciously.
Oh, and I really like orzo too...
Franco, the tagliatelle sounds good. Are restaurants ok with substituting the type of pasta in a dish?

Not always. But at Capitan Uncino, you're supposed to choose between spaghetti and tagliatelle for whichever pasta dish.

...and perhaps I should briefly explain which problems I have with that baccalà link. First of all, a sauce with baccalà mantecato is a big no-no (someone trying to be creative here, where there's no need to). Second, preparing baccalà mantecato with potatoes is much like preparing it with apricot jam. Third, if you use "the milk" in which the baccalà has been cooked, your meal won't taste of much else than salt (the method of choice is to add SOME of that milk). Fourth, the polenta they're cooking can't be good. Polenta has a tart aftertaste that disappears only when cooked for one hour; you never-never-never add any fat, onions or whatever before the polenta is properly boiled, always after that (but not for baccalà mantecato, where you don't add anything, and certainly NO CHEESE, my goodness!!!!!!!); and you'll definitely need more liquid (no stock, for baccalà mantecato, just salted water) to boil it. Fifth, and worst of all: they drizzle the mashed baccalà (and potatoes!) in olive oil?? This cannot be true! After cooking the baccalà in milk, it must not be heated anymore; and baccalà mantecato is always eaten cold, which they don't seem to know either: just the polenta must be hot, the baccalà mantecato - never!
I'm really so sorry, ek! But please try real baccalà mantecato, and I swear you'll admit that I'm correct.

Franco: I agree! I posted the recipe only to illustrate more or less what the dish was composed of, but I should have read it through first.


I must admit that I am puzzled as to how someone can love all other pasta shapes, including linguine, but not like spaghetti.

Pasta shapes are usually chosen to complement a particular sauce and I doubt if most restaurants will be willing to substitute another shape. I hope that the OP will be willing to try a good spaghetti dish on the upcoming trip if one is offered! By the way, be prepared for a host of pastas shapes that will be probably be new to you.

lol, franco, why not tell us what you REALLY think!

I have been tempted by salt cod on a number of occasions - and BTW it is produced and sold in Cornwall and Devon too - but I only ate it once when it was horriby salty, which put me off. I know that I should eat it when I go to Italy or spain, but I am always lured away from it by other things on the menu that I fancy more.

Actually, it all depends on which pasta suits which sauce best. Though I'm ready to admit that spaghetti aren't my favourite type of pasta, either, or to put it more precisely: they're being used far too often IMO, i.e. also for sauces that would better be served with different kinds of pasta. But of course, alle vongole for example is inconceivable with anything but spaghetti.

I don't understand, Ann. What do you mean I should tell?

franco, "why don't you tell us what you REALLY think" is an idiomatic expression, meaning, ironically, that you've already made the point VERY strongly!

What I want to know is how the OP thinks he's going to get into Italy with blueberries.

Not Italy, StCirq. France, it is! You might want to check out that thread and offer an opinion. But it is too late, the blueberries have already been bought.

Italy, France, doesn't matter. You'd better eat them on the plane - if they let you on with them. Fruit's a no-no going into any country, I think.

sorry, Franco, I didn't mean to confuse you. an idiom too far - it works better when you hear it, rather than read it.
thanks, st. cirq, for explaining on my behalf.

in theory, you probably shouldn't take fruit or veg over country borders. However, most EC countries do not have the facilities to check what food stuffs you are bringing in. we have brought fresh [though dead] chickens and oysters [hopefully live] back with us on the plane from Paris, and loads of stuff in our car. this last visit, we brought some leek plants back with us from France - they had some great little plants in the market we went to on the last day, and I needed some leeks, so why not?

I probably wouldn't bring potatoes though - they can have come VERY nasty diseases.

I always eat al nero di seppie with polenta, and did twice last week in Venice, once at La Palanca on Giudecca looking towards the Zattere, and once at Alle Zattere looking towards Giudecca. Both are very reasonably priced (especially La Palanca) and have the best views in the world (or in my known universe anyway.)

I had cuttlefish with squid ink over polenta at the Osteria al Pesador, just west of the Ponte Rialto in Venice. It was delicious! Back on the West Coast of the U.S., I'm going to have a hard time replicating it, I'm sure, but I'm going to give it my best!