La Tomatina - Proof of the Spanish Love Affair with the Tomato

The Spanish LOVE tomatoes. It is most definitely one of the essential ingredients in Spanish cooking. The Spanish eat tomatoes daily in many different ways, including fresh, stewed or simmered in a sauce. However, one of the strangest "gastronomic" festivals in Spain has to be La Tomatina in the small town of Bunol. This year the festival will be celebrated as it has been for 60 years, on the last Wednesday in August - the 29th. It starts at 11:00am with fireworks or a rocket explosion and ends the same way a few hours later. When it is all over, around 40,000 people will have participated in throwing over 100 tons of ripe tomatoes.

• Official Web Page of La Tomatina - Bunol, (Valencia) Spain. This site has lots of information on the festival including the history, the "rules" of the tomato fight and includes lots of photos of participants going crazy in the streets.

If you can't attend the festival, celebrate anyway! Prepare a Spanish recipe with tomatoes:

• Tomato - Essential Ingredient in Spanish Cuisine for a list of tomato recipes.

2005 La Tomatina Festival in Bunol, Spain Photographer Ander Gillenea Getty Images Europe