The rich culinary tradition of the Vall d'Albaida offers a wide range of dishes and desserts that make the act of eating an unmissable pleasure.The restaurants of the region offer from the traditional to the most modern kitchen, going through the author's kitchen and the market one.The Albaida Valley kitchens fuse all the ingredients to offer gastronomic wonders.
Traveling through the Albaida Valley palate will take you to discover a wide range of meat varieties, rice and sweets such as: the baked rice casserole, the paella, the rice soup, the rice with crust, the puchero with "balls", the " pericana ", the sausage, the wines, the herbero, the coca of bacon and mushrooms, the stuffed peppers and all kinds of sweets, such as sweet potato and pumpkin pies, the yolks and eggs with the fondant, the chocolate, the" Arrop i Tallaetes ", the loaves and the cakes, among others.
From these lines we propose you to discover each of the 34 municipalities to enjoy the succulent and exquisite gastronomic recipes.It is almost impossible to mark a route encompassing each and every one of the municipalities since each of them shows a culinary richness, a singularity and a peculiarity that make it different from the rest of the municipalities; but we will try to show you the tastiest and most welcoming places.
We begin our tour in Fontanars dels Alforins, a magnificent town that offers a wide range of quality wines. This most western area of the region, is the quintessential viticultural center of the Albaida Valley, although there are other towns that produce a high quality broth such as: Ontinyent, Agullent, Castelló de Rugat, Pobla del Duc and Quatretonda.
To taste the wine and enjoy its aroma and its essence, we recommend you to try and savor the typical and traditional sausages of the Vall d'Albaida region, paying special attention to the Ontinyent sausages and sobrasadas from Ontinyent, Agullent, Albaida and Aielo de Malferit. It is worthwhile to taste the stuffed peppers, the "pericana" and the gazpacho of Bocairent. Continuing our gastronomic journey, the traveler must make a stop in our restaurants and bars to try some of the typical dishes of the region, such as rice soup, puchero con pelotas, paella with rabbit and chicken, salted cocas, in any municipality of the region, such as: Benissoda, Atzeneta de Albaida, Carrícola, Otos, El Palomar, Montaverner.
These succulent dishes have as a common element the use of virgin olive oil, which stands out for its high quality in the municipalities of Alfarrasí, Beniatjar, Bèlgida, Benicolet, Ontinyent and Quatretonda; this last municipality not only stands out for the oil but also stands out for the handmade elaboration of honey and cheese.
If we go to the most eastern part of the Albaida Valley, we find the municipalities of: Castelló de Rugat, Rugat, Aielo de Rugat, Salem, Ràfol de Salem, Montitxelvo and Terrateig where stand out typical dishes such as : the corn cake, the sausage coca, the salted sardine, the appetizers and the chopped wheat, the sweet potato cake and the rolls of San Blas, among others.
The traveler will find in these municipalities not only good food, but also spectacular views of the Benicadell, the most emblematic mountain range of the Albaida Valley. At this point, we should go to Llutxent and Pinet to try the salt cake and even approach, at the end of October, to the Corpus Christi Monastery, where the rice soup contest is held.
Special mention of the beans cake in Pinet, a delight that the traveler can not miss. Driven by gastronomic pleasure, we arrive in Benigànim, where the "Arrop i Tallaetes" and chocolate stand out for their traditional craftsmanship. Passing through the towns of the river: Bellús, Guadasséquies, Sempere, Benisuera, Alfarrasí, Montaverner and Bufali, the traveler can verify that the cuisine of the Albaida Valley has similarities throughout the region and that, moreover, it is a Mediterranean diet where most of the ingredients are rice, vegetables, cereals, pulses, fruits and olive oil.
In L'Olleria it is recommended to eat sardines with fried eggs with grains of grapes. After the good eating, we recommend a careful and fine pastry such as: the fondue buds of Albaida and Ontinyent, and the pastries of the Augustinian nuns of Bocairent, next to the herbero (anise marinated with aromatic herbs) and the kola liquor or anise from the liquor store of Aielo de Malferit, which will make this route one of the deadly sins, since no one can resist the temptation to try each of the specialties of the municipalities that make up the region.
The meeting point of all these gastronomic products is in the famous Gastronomic and Agroalimentary Fair of the Albaida Valley, which takes place of November. This annual gastronomic event has established itself as a regional gastronomic reference that you cannot miss.
