One of the messiest festivals takes place in Buñol, Spain but as NIGEL GRIFFITHS found, La Tomatina is also enormous fun

HERE'S a tomato recipe you won't want to follow at home. Take a small town, ideally with very narrow streets running downhill to a reasonably fast-flowing river.

Gather together 40,000 people to help with the task, some local but others from around the globe.

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For the ingredients you will need 125 tonnes of over ripe tomatoes (that's about 160,000) packed into lorries capable of tilting so as to drop their loads into the roadway.

Then (the timing is important) ignite the proceedings at the stroke of noon by firing a rocket into the sky. Encourage your participants, not that they will need it, to pick up, split, then hurl all the tomatoes at each other until the streets run red with tomate frito (tomato sauce).

For added flavour, place an entire Serrano ham on top of a wellgreased pole about 30ft high and cajole your helpers to climb and fetch it, while goading others to throw footballs and wet T-shirts at those who brave the attempt.

This is La Tomatina, perhaps the most bizarre of Spanish festivals.

For one hour every August, the brutality of a medieval street-battle can be experienced in a ferocious explosion of attack and counter that leaves the streets running red.

However, the weapons are nothing but tomatoes, in various states of decomposition. It is listed, quite rightly, in the cult book, 100 Things To Do Before You Die.

The participants welcome strangers. The more wimpish put on goggles or retreat to what they hope is a place of safety in the many side alleys of Buñol, the town where it takes place, around 25 miles inland from Valencia.

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A tomato smack between the eyes stings a bit I found, but I made sure I got my revenge, letting loose at anyone within range.
After precisely one hour, a second firework halts proceedings, the streets are hosed down and it's all over. However, it's an experience you will never forget. The joys of Buñol are then also pretty much over. The town is unremarkable.

Instead, base yourself in Valencia, one of Spain's most elegant cities, with fine shops, markets and an excellent old quarter.
Revamped in 2007 to play host to sailing's biggest prize, the America's Cup, the harbour area is smart, stylish and modern, with attractive hotels. I stayed in one of these, the four-star Hotel Neptuno, 10 minutes from the centre and right on the beach, with its excellent El Tridente restaurant.

Food is something of a forte in Valencia. A top tip for lunch is Restaurante Ben Fet, a 17th-century palace converted into a cookery and hotel management school which is open to the public so the students can show off their skills.

The standard is very high and besides Valencia's speciality, paella, I enjoyed albóndigas de la abuela ("grandmother's meatballs").
In the evening, myself and my companions headed to Asador del Carme in Plaza del Carme, a traditional restaurant with a convivial atmosphere. Salad, cod with olives and a goat's cheese and honey arrangement was followed by charcoal-grilled beef and lamb chops. Having squandered plenty of food, it was nice to switch the focus to consumption.

THE KNOWLEDGE:
La Tomatina festival (www.latomatina.org) takes place on August 25. PP Travel (0207 930 9999/www.pptravel.com) offers a La Tomatina tour (August 24-26) from £155pp (two sharing), B&B.

Includes two nights at Neptuno, Valencia, and transfers to Buñol.

easyJet (0905 821 0905/ www.easyjet.com) offers return flights from Gatwick to Valencia from £51.

Spanish National Tourist Office: 0207 486 8077/www.spain.info