4 Venice Carnival Foods - Where To Eat These Sweet Carnival Treats In Venice

Last updated on February 21st, 2025

Are you celebrating Carnevale (Carnival) this year? Whether you’re traveling to Venice or at home looking to cook up authentic Italian Carnival foods, you’ve come to the right spot!

Let’s take a look at the most traditional foods that we eat to celebrate Carnevale in Venice in February. I will share with you:

what the food is
where to try it
variations you might find

As a mom in Italy with four kids, I can tell you we’ve sampled more than our fair share of these Carnival foods. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Good To Know: I have recommended specific bakeries for these Venetian Carnival foods but you can also go to any of my favorite breakfast spots in Venice or bakeries in Venice for these sweet treats.

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Frittelle

Entrance to Rosa Salva gelateria in Venice, Italy. Marble bulding with large glass windows.

Where To Try Them: Pasticceria Bar Rosa Salva (Close to Rialto Bridge)

Frittelle are perhaps the most famous and beloved Italian carnival food by Venetians. These fried dough balls are studded with raisins and candied fruit (each fritoleri with their own secret recipe, of course) and deep fried until golden.

Historically, this recipe was quite simple but today, you can find this Italian Carnival sweet treat made with various fillings such as zabaione, chantilly cream or pastry cream.

The most famous bakeries in Venice will only make these during the Carnival festivities so be sure to get your fill. Should you see them beforehand, be wary.

Tip: Although many of these treats are from Venice, you can find them in other foodie cities in Italy as well.

Castagnole

side view of glass window in a bakery filled with two trays of carnival sweet treats with black signs in front indicating price per 100 grams.

Where To Try Them: Pasticceria Tonolo (Dorsoduro)

Castagnole means ‘little chestnuts’ in Italian, referring to their similar shape and color to this popular Italian nut.

This popular Venice Carnival food is made by frying small dough balls flavored with lemon zest and aniseed liquor and covering them with sugar. They may be filled with chocolate or pastry cream. In Tuscany, they call them frittelle di riso and make them with a similar batter but with cooked rice, adding a nice texture to the classic recipe

Good To Know: In Venice castagnole may be called favette.

Chiacchiere

top view of a plate of frappe/cenci dusted with powdered sugar on a blue platter. — These are the cenci/frappe I make every year for Carnival with my kids

Where To Try Them: Caffè Florean (San Marco Square)

Chiacchiere, sometimes called cenci, galani, bugie or frappe depending on what region you are in, is a popular Venetian Carnival food to try in February in Italy. These delicious strips of dough are fried until crisp and covered with powdered sugar.

The dough is simple, made with oil, flour, eggs and a drop of grappa or sweet wine. We learned to make cenci from a beloved friend down the road from us who is coming up on 88 years! She says the best are rolled by hand but in my experience, it’s easier to use a pasta machine to get the dough thin enough (the thinner the better).

The best chiacchiere will come from bakeries but you will also find them at grocery stores or other Italian delis.

Mammalucchi

Where To Try Them: Pasticceria Targa (close to Rialto Bridge)

Mammalucchi are a Carnival food new to Venetian tradition. Story goes that this Carnival sweet treat was accidentally invented by a Venetian baker who was trying to recreate an African cake but like some of the best things, his mistake led him to this fried delight.

Soft, orange flavored dough is cut into long tubes and fried until golden. They are finished with a heavy coat of granulated sugar.

Other Italian Carnival Foods To Try

bakery window with traditional tuscan carnival desserts like schiacciata alla fiorentina, cenci and frittelle.

In this article I have focused on foods that are easy street foods to eat during Carnival while traveling in Venice. Below are some other foods to try should you have more time and be in other areas of Italy, which you can read more about in 10 Italian Carnival Foods – What They Are & Where To Try Them In Italy.