The Delta oyster day
One Sunday in the month of May, visitors come to the town to celebrate the
Delta oyster day,
an occasion that has become one of the Ebro region's main culinary events.
Throughout the
day, the public attending the festival at the fishing port of L'Ampolla consume
2,500 kilos of Delta oysters accompanied, if they wish, by a glass of cava.
Another feature to be relished is the range of Delta oyster dishes on display. Visitors can savour the
most innovative dishes and see how this fruit from the sea is prepared by the efforts of our chefs.
There is also live music to liven things up and provide an even more high-spirited atmosphere.
The
day of the oyster is the first event in the season of the L'Ampolla Culinary Festival,
which takes place throughout the months of May and June.
The Harvest Festival
Every year the fishing port of L'Ampolla celebrates
the harvest festival. A festival dedicated
to the reapers, the farm workers who, through the sweat of their brows, made it possible for us to enjoy
the finest food produce from our rice lands today.
Visitors are shown the
traditional process by which the rice is processed once it has been harvested
until it is finally put into sacks.
This process begins with the preparation of
the paddies, which used to be traditionally
transported by tirs (a kind of sleigh used to transport the paddies around the paddy fields). The paddies
are then dehusked, mixed with straw and the
threshing process is begun (separating the
grain from the husk). Two types of rice threshing are demonstrated: hoof-threshing (threshing carried out
by animals) and
threshing using a threshing machine (a type of circular roller with
spikes, pulled by an animal).
Once the rice has been threshed the rice grains are cleaned with forks. The grains are then piled up and
are winnowed with wooden shovels; removing the smallest remains of the husk and the chaff from the grain.
The
drying process now begins (the rice is piled up and then evened out by treading it so
as to spread it out across the threshing floor. Once it has been evened out, it is dried in the sun (it is
once again piled up at night and covered, so as to avoid the damp of the morning dew).
When dry, a sieve is used to clean the rice grain one last time; this sieve is also used to grade the rice.
When this is finished the rice is ready to be
stored in sacks.
From 12.30 p.m. those attending the festival are given the opportunity to
TASTE A NUMBER OF
DIFFERENT RICE DISHES.
A musical group plays throughout the event, adding even more atmosphere to one of the most typical days
in the month of September when the rice cuisine festival of the region takes place.
