When it comes to contributions to the world of gastronomy, Venice is no slouch.
The northeast Italian city and its surrounding region has given us the Bellini (the classic cocktail born at Harry’s Bar made with Prosecco and pureed white peaches), Bigoli pasta, and arguably, tiramisu.
But the Venetian Lagoon, which extends 54,000 Hectares (212 square miles), contains some buried treasure worth getting your feet wet for.
Which is exactly what Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli and British art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon did when they visited the region in Italy Unpacked (watch it on Food Network Australia and SBS On Demand).
"The lagoon is famous above all for its clams - le vongole. They're as much a symbol of the lagoon as Venice itself," says Locatelli.
Chioggi, at the southern end of the lagoon, produces about 2 thousand tons of clams each year. They have to be sold alive, so they mainly end up in markets, restaurants and kitchens around Europe.
The pair don waders and step down into the metre-deep lagoon to harvest some vongole for their lunch.
The clams live 3-4cm under the sand, so they need to be dug out and sieved to remove the sand.
Once their basket is full of clams, Locatelli and Graham-Dixon head to a casoni (a house on stilts built to process mussels, oysters and vongole), to cook up spaghetti alle vongole.
There are many regional variations of this dish, but vongole fresh from the Venetian Lagoon make this dish worth getting out of your gondola for.
"I’m in my favourite place in the world & you are about to cook me my favourite dish in the world," says Graham-Dixon.
Spaghetti alle vongole can be cooked with tomatoes, or without - "bianco". Locatelli is very firm about his preference.
"Look, the most important thing about the most delicious food is always not over complicate it," says Locatelli.
"I know people who make spaghetti with vongole they put cream, saffron, tomato anything that comes to their minds.
"So the main thing is to always make a sauce that is the simplest. We are going to use a little bit of garlic, a little bit of chilli and parsley at the end olive oil and some white wine."
Locatelli also advises that the olive oil should not be too strong: "I wouldn’t use our Sicilian olive oil for that. I use like a Ligurian olive oil that is a little bit lighter in flavour," he says.
He is also stresses the importance of not burning the garlic, and discards any vongole that don't open.
The result?
"That is so delicious, fiery, it’s got the sea," says Graham-Dixon, tucking into the steaming pasta dish. "How long have they been cooking this round here, do you think?"
To which Locatelli replies: "This is pre-historic, when they were eating oyster they were eating this."
If you can't make it to Venice for the fresh vongole, why not try making spaghetti alle vongole yourself? Gourmet Farmer Afloat has this recipe for Spaghetti with clams and garlic.
This classic dish is found at many Italian restuarants. You can try it for yourself at Becco in Melbourne and Jamie's Italian restaurants in Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.Watch Italy Unpacked on Food Network Australia, then on SBS on Demand. Or watch the first episode here:
SBS Food is a 24/7 foodie channel for all Australians, with a focus on simple, authentic and everyday food inspiration from cultures everywhere. NSW stream only. Read more about SBS Food
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