An invention from Venice, named after a painter
Paper-thin raw beef, gently drizzled with lemon-olive oil, capers and shavings of Parmesan – that is how it is served worldwide today. The original was invented in 1950 at Harry’s Bar in Venice, for Countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo, whose doctor had forbidden her red meat.
Bar owner Giuseppe Cipriani named it after the Renaissance painter Vittore Carpaccio, because the red colour of the meat reminded him of the painter’s pigments. What began as an appetiser story became art history on the menu.