Travellers' tales: On tour with the Borgias

10 March 2013 - 02:01 By Clare Mann
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Clare Mann explores Xàtiva, Spanish birthplace of the infamous papal dynasty

A beautiful opaque octopus, along with eight different types of shrimp, caught my eye first, followed by a percebe, or goose-neck barnacle - which looked more like deformed toenails than anything edible. Apparently, this crustacean is prised from the rocks only where the sea foams and crashes, and is considered by many to be the tastiest delicacy in the ocean. At R500/kg, it's also one of the more expensive.

The Mercado Central, the oldest food market in Europe, in the heart of Valencia, was our introduction to The Borgia Tour. More cathedral than market, it was a treat both visual and culinary. Beneath its late 19th-century domes, arches and mosaics was a stunning array of local produce: rows of hanging Serrano hams, mounds of spices, juicy grapes, plump figs, all picked and plucked from the region.

The Borgia Tour is run by Patrick Waller, who has lived in Spain for 20 years with his Spanish wife, Julia. Together they have created several tours, a pleasing mix of history, food, wine and walking in the surrounding country. This one is centred around the medieval town of Xàtiva (pronounced Hat-tiv-a), 45 minutes from Valencia.

Xàtiva, once the second most important city in Spain, grew rich on silk and paper production, using techniques introduced by the Moors, and was also home to the powerful Borja clan, Italianised to Borgia, that produced two Renaissance popes.

David, our guide, took us on a stroll through the pretty streets of the old quarter. There was much to see, from the fountain with 25 spouts that brought sparkling water to the city to the leafy "Kissing Park", so named after star-crossed lovers (forbidden love between a Christian and a Moor is common in Spanish folklore). St Peter's Street is lined with grand old merchants' houses, with coats of arms above ancient doors and set around cool interior courtyards. The handsome house where Pope Alexander VI (Roderic Llançol i de Borja) was born is still a private house, though not all the houses have been so lucky: David pointed to a dilapidated nobleman's house which had once been his school; another elegant building opposite is now the police station.

The future Alexander VI was baptised in St Peter's church, built on the site of a mosque. The priest took us into the crypt but disappointingly all that remains of the skeletons found here are some bone fragments in a bucket.

Philip V burnt the town almost to the ground during the War of the Spanish Succession and David told us that the inhabitants of Xàtiva are still known as the "scorched ones".

We finished our history lesson with a delicious local beer, La Socarrada (scorched), made with lime, honey and rosemary. Describing something as "honey and rosemary", said David, means it's close to perfection.

Above the town perches a magnificent castle, its 30 towers and four fortified gateways stretching along the ridge. In the castle's restaurant we tucked into a classic local dish, arroz al horno - oven-baked rice with pork, black pudding and chickpeas. Rice is grown in the fresh water lagoon of Albufera close to Valencia.

Later, in the cool of the evening, we visited the chapel of St Anna, high on a hill, with views of orange groves and distant mountains. There's a local story that tells of a young Irishman who collected the key to the chapel from the tourist office in Xàtiva.

When he arrived, he found some old men sitting in the shade so he produced the key and told them it had been in his family for several centuries. Family legend had it, he claimed, that this was a key to a remote chapel "somewhere in Spain where treasure was hidden" and he had spent some years looking for it. The old men were enthralled - and thrilled when the key fitted. But the chapel was - and is - empty, the only treasure is the beautiful royal blue ceiling studded with tiny gold stars.

The tour included a visit with Patrick Waller to Fontanars dels Alforins, the wine-growing region close to Xàtiva. Here, we visited two small family-run bodegas, where we were warmly welcomed and sampled excellent wine.

We walked from one bodega to the next, through wild undulating countryside populated by wild boar. Patrick is a keen birder with a passion for birds of prey, and as we walked he pointed out European bee-eaters. We passed the remains of a pre-Roman settlement along the crest of an escarpment, and a couple of abandoned farms, their fig trees heavy with ripe fruit.

Our lunch stop that day was a highlight of the tour: at the remote and rustic Mas de Monserrat we ate paella cooked by José bas Tortosa, an outstanding young chef-patron passionate about authentic Valencian cuisine.

While we tucked into tapas, observed by his friendly dogs, José cooked the paella on an open fire of vine wood and offered us a delicious local red wine made by a friend. "This is his first attempt, and he only made a few bottles, not bad, eh?" How long does the paella have to cook? I asked. José shrugged, "Until the wood burns down ..."

Paella is traditionally eaten straight from the pan. José set the huge pan in the middle of the table, gave everyone a spoon and we all dug in. It was honey and rosemary, as the locals might say.

What to avoid

* Avoid the crowds and sleepless nights by steering clear of Valencia in March during the week-long Fallas de San José fiesta. Stay outside the city to keep your sanity.

* Always avoid August, when temperatures soar. Winter months are rarely cold, but can be crisp, while spring and autumn are the most comfortable temperatures.

* The tour involves a fair amount of walking in the countryside, so don't forget suitable footwear.

The inside track

* If you are brave enough to face the searing heat of August, then the Xàtiva fiesta in the middle of the month is a week-long gastronomic and cultural extravaganza.

* Valencia was the biggest fan-maker in Europe in the 19th century and they are still much used today. Buy one to keep cool, keep away the flies and cast flirty glances.

* Try Jason Webster's Sacred Sierra and The Popes: A History , by John Julius Norwich, for background reading.

 © The Sunday Telegraph

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