Baicoli are an Italian

Italian cuisine

Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, Jewish and Arab cuisines...

 biscuit

Biscuit

A biscuit is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations....

, originating in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

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Baicoli gain their name because their shape resemble that of sea bass

European seabass

The European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax, also known as Morone labrax, is a primarily ocean-going fish that sometimes enters brackish and fresh waters. It is also known as the sea dace...

, which in local dialect is called baicoli.

These biscuits were created as a ship's biscuit, for long sea voyages by Venetian ships. Being very dry, these biscuits maintain their consistency for a long duration, when properly stored in the distinctive yellow tin boxes in which they are traditionally sold. Their preparation, which is long and laborious, has two acts of leavening and double baking.

Today, Baicoli are served with coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

 and zabaglione

Zabaglione

Zabaione , is an Italian dessert made with egg yolks, sugar, a sweet wine , and sometimes whole eggs. It is a very light custard, which has been whipped to incorporate a large amount of air. Zabaglione is traditionally served with fresh figs...

, in which they could be dipped

Dunk (biscuit)

To dunk is to dip a biscuit , bread, buttered toast, cake, or doughnut into a beverage, especially tea, coffee, or cold milk. Dunking releases more flavour from confections by dissolving the sugars, while also softening their texture...

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