Festival Time: Requena Feria de Embutidos
Requena is a town about an hour away from Valencia by train or bus in Valencia's wine region. Every February they have the Requena Feria de Embutidos, or Sausage Fair.
For 10 €, you get to ticket with little stubs: 3 sausage tastings, one grilled sausage sandwich, 1 thing from the bakery, 1 thing from the "amas de casa" or housewives association, 2 cups of wine, a bottle of water, and a guided tour of the old town. Plus this little one-handed carrying tray and plastic bowl and wine glass (real glass).
It's quite crowded in the event venue. Prepare to jostle and be jostled. And line up in long lines!
The coolest part I thought was the "amas de casa" all of these housewives all with their hair done probably for the event, and all wearing aprons. Some were wearing aprons that pin on their shirts at top, like this lady in red.
The offering from the amas de casa were these bread slices with pate and crispy pork skin, and another spread of garlic (though kind of tasteless).
First stop for the sausage tasting: after a long wait in line, Morcilla (blood sausage), chorizo, fuet (kind of sweet like Chinese sausage), bread with sobrasada (meat spread).
At the next stand, the lines were so long I decided to use two tickets for a double portion, just to avoid lining up again. A good decision! This was a really good stand, with the same things as the first stand, but also the crispy pork skin, and mortadella cubes.
Next up was the stand for the bakery. Choice was between a coca (kind of like flatbread) with bacon and sausages embedded in it, and a sweetish bread with sprinkles on it. I could not stand another bite of pork products at the moment, so chose the sweet bread.
The last stop was outside: barbecued sausages, put in a little roll.
Included in the €10 was a guided tour of the compact old town which was pretty interesting. All in all, I was extremely impressed by how well run this event was, and how they make things easy for the visitor with the different tickets and tour all included. They even have a free shuttle to/from the high speed AVE station which is outside of town, so it's even quicker to get to from Valencia, and accessible from Madrid. What a great showcase it is for the town and the region! I highly recommend going... if you like sausages that is!
