Coca (pastry)

The coca (), coc or fogassa, is a pastry typically made and consumed in Catalonia,Eliana Thibaut i Comalada, ''Les Coques Catalanes'', Proa, Barcelona 1995. the Aragonese Strip, most of Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Andorra and in French Catalonia.

All around the Mediterranean there are similar typical dishes.

Etymology

The word ''coca''—plural ''coques''—comes from Dutch during the Carolingian Empire, and shares the same roots as the English "cake" and the German "Kuchen".

Similarities

There are many diverse cocas, with four main varieties: sweet, savoury, closed and open. All of them use dough as the main ingredient, which is then decorated. This dough can be sweet or savoury. If it is sweet, eggs and sugar are added, and if it is savoury, yeast and salt. As regards the topping or filling, fish and vegetables are usual at the coast whilst inland they prefer fruit, nuts, cheese and meat. Some cocas can be both sweet and savoury (typically mixing meat and fruit).

Types of coca

Coca is almost any kind of bread-based product. Its size can vary from 5 cm up to 1 metre. There are various presentations:
*Sweet or savory, depending on the ingredients and condiments. A coca with no filling is called coca nua
*Open or covered.
**The covered coca is a coca with its filling on the inside. It can be both sweet and salty.
**The open coca is the typical coca with its content on top. Most cocas are like this.

Varieties

Amongst the list of varieties, the most common are:
* , a savoury coca with a variety of different ingredients, usually including sausage and vegetables, available generally.
* also ''Tortell'' or ''Roscó''. Similar to the Coca de Sant Joan but with a hole and filled with marzipan on the inside. It is habitual in all of Spain and France and is eaten on 6 January for Dia de Reis (Kings’ day). Traditionally, a king and a faba bean is put inside, the one who gets the king, gets to have the cardboard crown, while the one who gets the bean, pays for the next one.
* , from Mallorca and the Balearics.
* , a sweet coca most typical of Catalonia, eaten on , Saint John's Eve.
* , from the area around Valencia.
* , often called , bearing bacon and other meat products, typical of any mountainous area.

The Other varieties are:

Savory

* or . It is an open coca with tomato, sausage, blood sausage, Frigate Tuna or .
* . Literally: artichoke coca.
* . Literally: onion coca.
* . A thin and round coca with made to fill with any ingredient. Similar to a corn tortilla. Typical of the region of Safor.
* . A coca made with spinach, raisins and pine nuts.
* . A with mushrooms, fish and regional sausages.
* . A round and flat coca decorated with sausages or sardines. Made in Safor.
* . A coca with rabbit, tomato and olives. As the name indicates, it is made in Montblanc.
* . A typical coca from l’ Alacantí.
* . A thin coca without condiments.
* . Literally: olive coca.
* . Literally: bread coca. A thin coca without condiments made in the Balearic Islands, served with sobrassada.
* . Literally: fish coca. Also made with shrimp.
* . Literally: ham and grape coca.
* . Literally; Pea coca. It also has tuna or sardines, and if there are none then sausages will be used. It also has garlic and faba beans.
* . Literally: tomato coca.
* . Literally: tuna coca. Also called . It is a samfaina but with onion and tuna. It is eaten in the Alacantí during the bonfires of Saint John.

Sweet

* . Literally: air coca.
* . Literally: apricot coca. Made in Lleida and Aragon.
* . Literally: almond coca. Made in the Valencian region. It is produced in Castelló de la Plana.
* . Literally: anise coca. A thin, thin and buttery coca filled with anise. Among others, typical of Osona.
* . Literally: hazelnut coca.
* or . A sweet and spongy cake made in all of the Valencian Community.
* . Literally: drunk coca.
* .
* . A puff pastry coca filled with Cabell d’Àngel and covered with pine nuts and sugar.
* . Literally: yellow pumpkin coca.
* . Literally: celestial coca. Made in Valencia.
* . Literally; cherry coca. Typical of Reus and La Salzadella. In Reus it is individual and in the latter, bigger.
* .
* (Valencian Community) or (Balearic Islands).
* . Literally: cream coca.
* . A sweet coca with sobrassada. From Majorca.
* . Literally: thin coca. A sugared coca.
* .
* . Literally: fresh cheese coca. Typical of Vallespir.
* . A coca with a hole typical of all the Penedès.
* . Literally: yogurt coca.
* . Made with lardons, then baked and covered with pine nuts. Typical of mountainous regions like the Pyrenees, even though it is present in all of Catalonia. It is traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday.
* . Literally: tin coca. Typical of the central Valencian Community. It is a spongy coca with orange juice made in a tin in the oven.
* . A coca filled with cream and covered in marzipan, sugar and pine nuts.
* . Literally: milk coca.
* . Literally: lemonade coca.
* . Literally: strawberry coca.
* or . A spongy coca similar to a tall ensaïmada. It is usually accompanied by hot chocolate. Typical of the Valencian region and Menorca.
* . Made with muscat and brandy.
* or . A soft, long and narrow coca, covered with sugar, from Montserrat.
*
* . Literally: nut coca.
* . Literally: carrot coca.
* . Literally: pine nut coca.
* . Literally: apple coca. Eaten around the Terres de l'Ebre and the Valencian community.
* . Literally: quick coca.
* , from Majorca.
*
*
* . Typical of the Balearics.
* . Literally: sugar coca. A coca with nothing more than oil and sugar. In the Balearics, they sometimes add sobrassada.
* . Literally: orange coca.
* . Literally: crystal coca. A long and very thin coca, with sugar and anise. That way, a transparent layer of caramelization happens, that is where it gets its name. Sometimes, pine nuts are added.
*
* . Literally: chocolate coca. A sweet closed coca with chocolate.

Festivities

"Cocas are (...) strongly linked with our country's traditions." The coca is a dish common to rich and poor and a basic part of Catalan cuisine.

In Catalonia, the coca has a direct relationship with the or holiday. It is typical to buy or prepare cocas during holidays, especially during Easter (), Christmas () and Saint John's Eve (). Some cocas even have the names of saints and they are eaten on that saint's day (such as the Saint John's Coca, ). Nonetheless, many eat them without any religious or festive reason, and especially in places like Italy, this dish need not carry any special significance. The obeys this logic exactly, since the is a kind of picnic habitually taken out into the fields.

Similar recipes along the Mediterranean

Coca, being the Catalan variety of a Mediterranean dish, has local counterparts all over the Mediterranean, especially in its savoury kind. Apart from Italy, other countries also have similar cakes, pies and pastries. Four examples are the Algerian coca which is a variety of the Catalan coca, often presented as a closed square pizza filled with onions, red peppers, tomatoes, and spices, or shaped like empanadas which are from the same family as cocas; Pissaladière from Provence; the Lahmacun from Turkey and the from France, Belgium and Luxembourg, where it is one of the national dishes. Similarly, sweet pies can be found all over Europe. The more specific King's cake (in Catalan, ) is traditional in Occitania as well as in territories of Catalan culture as a part of the New Year holidays.

See also

* List of pastries
* Regañao
* History of pizza
*

References

External links

Fira de la Coca a Monistrol (Bages)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coca (Pastry)
Andorran cuisine
Balearic cuisine
Catalan cuisine
Spanish pastries
Valencian cuisine