We have to admit that we Spaniards are very fond of sandwiches, despite the fact that among the supposed 50 best sandwiches in the world we have only made two on the list. It will be because beyond the terreta the entrepanes of the Levant are not known, especially of Valencia, where they have made the art of the sandwich a whole reason for being.
faithful to esmorzaret —with his creametof course—, the Valencians have evolved this garden lunch into a whole gastronomic symbol with the most unique mixes like the one we bring you today.
Perhaps for the non-Levantine it is a rarity, but the reality is that the fallero sandwich, as the journalist tells Vincent Mark, author of the book Valencian Lunchesis a tradition with many decades of roots and that, in essence, is only a sausage and broad bean sandwich.
A gardener and taking advantage of the season and, as is evident, resorting to pork —the great animal source of Valencian cuisine—, these sandwiches are pregnant with stewed beans. “Sometimes with a little onion”, says Marco, and with sausages that are passed over the grill or on the grill.
Between the couple and the trio, this sandwich is related to the broad beans with classics like the black and whitewhich is nothing other than white sausage and botifarra (black, which in other parts of Spain would be a blood sausage). “The usual thing is to fry the beans with a little onion and also the normal thing is to put only black and white“, explains Marco, more in favor of putting “a couple of sausages and a sausage”.
The option of adding chorizo is to the taste of the consumer, although he qualifies that “it must be very good so that it does not repeat itself.” A native of Benifaió, a town in the Ribera Alta, Vicent Marco is quite a authority in the world of the Valencian sandwichwhich thus explains the origin of this unique sandwich.
The origin of the fallas sandwich
“Throughout the year the falleros hold meetings, you go to the married, which is where the members of the falla meet and you download your sandwich. is what we call dine at armpit because in the country houses there is always drink: you go, you pay for the drink and you take the sandwich from home”, he comments.
The advantage, he also points out, is that “you can always make the sausage in the fault because there are coals or a frying pan and it does not have a complicated preparation”. However, it is not the only great merit of the totemic fallero sandwich so that the Valencians adore it on the long nights of firecrackers and firecrackers.
The fallas sandwich is usually accompanied by the classic peanuts or pickles, like this one from Casa Cent Duros in Borbotó. ©Francho Lázaro Aznar for the book ‘Almuerzos Valencianos’ by Vicent Marco.
“It is a sandwich that holds up very well because the sausage still juicy and you can put it in albal paper and hold on. The chicken or the veal stay dry and if you add ratatouille or tomatoes, the bread stays very soft and wet”, he argues.
From there, the myth, as in any other culture, also involves tasty intergenerational confrontations. “The traditional fallero is made of broad beans and sausage, but the young people are now swapping the beans for chips“, he indicates, qualifying that these are baked potatoes, not like the typical Belgian sandwiches of fried potatoes on sticks.
The sandwich with beans and sausage that made José Andrés fall in love
Interestingly, what is a humble and seasonal snack, in 2023 it may have luxury sandwich tints. A bad harvest of broad beans, with very cold weather and at the wrong time, has led to an increase in their price.
From there, the mutations of the fallero sandwich follow one another, including options with potato omelette, which is also common. “Actually there was even patatas bravas sandwichbut also sandwiches that have become fashionable again, such as horse meat, young garlic and potatoes”, he illustrates.
Fallas sandwich from La Curra in Torrent. © Photos by Francho Lázaro Aznar for the book ‘Almuerzos Valencianos’ by Vicent Marco
As for proper names, he talks about the sausages from Requena, Picaixent or Xirivella, three key municipalities in the Valencian pork industry that he used his pigs for these fresh meats because the conditions in the Levant to dry sausage are not the best.
Finally, so as not to lose rubble, if we do not want to complicate ourselves at home and we are looking for the perfect fallero sandwich, a few addresses. Marco cites El Nuevo Oslo, but also La Cantina de Ruzafa, “where still use pataquetaa crescent-shaped bread that was the classic of the Valencian sandwich along with the rolls”.
However, one of the addresses that has been making the most noise lately is L’Institut, in Riba-roja de Túria, which has an XXL version of the fallero or the Ca Cent Duros, popularized by chef José Andrés, since it has appeared in his docuseries José Andrés and family in Spain. Located in Borbotó, a district close to the capital Valencia, now there are even queues to enjoy its fallas sandwiches.
Images | Francho Lázaro Aznar for the book Almuerzos Valencianos
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