Famaillá

Famaillá is a town in the sugar-cane country south of Tucumán that has built its identity on a single dish. The Tucumán empanada is small, baked in a clay oven, filled with hand-cut beef, spring onion and cumin, and juicy enough that eating it standing up is a skill, and Famaillá claims to make the best in the country. Since the 1970s the town has hosted the Fiesta Nacional de la Empanada each September, when kitchens compete under judges, tens of thousands of visitors arrive, and the streets fill with folk music, dancing and smoke from the ovens. Outside the festival the town is an ordinary provincial place, but its bakeries and roadside kitchens keep turning out the empanadas that made it famous.

What you actually see

• The empanada festival - the September national competition and its crowds.
• The clay ovens - baking in traditional wood-fired ovens around the town.
• The bakeries - year-round kitchens serving the Tucumán style.
• The sugar country - cane fields and mills surrounding the town.

When to go

Early September for the festival, which is the whole point for most visitors and books out local rooms; otherwise any time, since the bakeries operate year-round. Summer here is hot and humid, and the festival weather is usually mild.

Honest expectations

Outside the festival there is little reason to stop except to eat, and the town is plain. During the festival, crowds, queues and traffic are heavy, and accommodation means staying in Tucumán and driving out. The empanadas are small, so ordering by the dozen is normal.

Nearby

Tucumán city lies north; the road to Tafí del Valle climbs west from nearby.