Coca (pastry) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Coca

Sweet and savoury cocas
Type	Pastry
Place of origin	Spain
Main ingredients	Sweet dough: eggs, sugar Savoury dough: yeast, salt

"Coca de Sant Joan", sweet coca with candied fruits and pine nuts, typical of Catalan summer solstice celebration

"Coca de crema", coca with Catalan cream, an example of sweet coca

"Coca de mullador", a Valencian variety of coca with samfaina, a dish similar to ratatouille, an example of the savoury coca

The coca (pronounced "KOH-kuh") is a special kind of pastry. It is very popular in places like Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and Andorra.

You can find similar tasty dishes all around the Mediterranean Sea.

What Does "Coca" Mean?

The word coca comes from the Dutch language. It arrived during the time of the Carolingian Empire. It is related to the English word "cake" and the German word "Kuchen."

Different Kinds of Coca

There are many different types of cocas! They usually fit into four main groups:

• Sweet cocas
• Savoury cocas (meaning salty or not sweet)
• Closed cocas (with filling inside)
• Open cocas (with toppings on top)

All cocas start with a dough. This dough is then decorated with different ingredients. The dough itself can be sweet or savoury. If it is sweet, people add eggs and sugar. If it is savoury, they add yeast and salt.

What goes on top or inside? Near the coast, people often use fish and vegetables. Inland, they prefer fruits, nuts, cheese, and meat. Some cocas can even mix sweet and savoury ingredients, like meat and fruit!

How Cocas Are Made

A coca is basically any food made with a bread-like base. They can be small, about 5 centimeters, or very large, up to 1 meter!

Here are some ways cocas are presented:

• Sweet or Salty: This depends on the ingredients and flavors. A coca with no filling or toppings is called a coca nua (meaning "naked coca").
• Open or Covered:
  • A covered coca has its tasty filling hidden inside. It can be sweet or savoury.
  • An open coca has its toppings spread on top. Most cocas are made this way.

Popular Coca Varieties

Here are some of the most common and special cocas:

• Coca de recapte: This is a savoury coca with many different toppings. It often includes sausage and vegetables.
• Coca de Reis: Also known as Tortell or Roscó. It looks a bit like the Coca de Sant Joan but has a hole in the middle. It is often filled with marzipan. People eat this all over Spain and France on January 6th for Kings’ Day. A fun tradition is to hide a small king figure and a bean inside. The person who finds the king gets a cardboard crown! The one who finds the bean usually pays for the next coca.
• Coca de trempó: This coca comes from Mallorca and the Balearic Islands.
• Coca de Sant Joan: This is a sweet coca, most popular in Catalonia. People eat it on La revetlla de Sant Joan, which is Saint John's Eve (a summer celebration).
• Coca de llanda: This coca is from the area around Valencia.
• Coca de xulla: Often called coca de llardons, this coca has bacon and other meat products. It is common in mountainous areas.

There are many other types of cocas too!

Savoury Cocas

Some savoury cocas include:

• Coca a la calda: An open coca with tomato, sausage, or tuna.
• Coca de carxofa: An artichoke coca.
• Coca de ceba: An onion coca.
• Coca de Dacsa: A thin, round coca from Safor, similar to a corn tortilla. You can fill it with anything!
• Coca d’espinacs: Made with spinach, raisins, and pine nuts.
• Coca de Lleida: A coca de recapte with mushrooms, fish, and local sausages.
• Coca de Montblanc: A coca with rabbit, tomato, and olives, made in Montblanc.
• Coca nua: A plain, thin coca without toppings.
• Coca d’olives: An olive coca.
• Coca de pa: A thin bread coca from the Balearic Islands. People often eat it with sobrassada (a type of sausage).
• Coca de peix: A fish coca, sometimes made with shrimp.
• Coca de Pèsols: A pea coca, often with tuna or sausages, garlic, and faba beans.
• Coca de Tonyina: A tuna coca, eaten in Alacantí during the bonfires of Saint John festival.

Sweet Cocas

Some sweet cocas include:

• Coca d’albercoc: An apricot coca, made in Lleida and Aragon.
• Coca d’ametlla: An almond coca, from the Valencian country.
• Coca d’anís: A thin, buttery coca flavored with anise, typical of Osona.
• Coca boba: A sweet and spongy cake from the Valencian Community.
• Coca de Cabell d’Àngel: A puff pastry coca filled with "angel hair" (a sweet pumpkin jam) and topped with pine nuts and sugar.
• Coca de cireres: A cherry coca, typical of Reus and La Salzadella.
• Coca de Crema: A cream-filled coca, found in many Catalan-speaking areas.
• Coca de llardons: Made with lardons (small pieces of pork fat), baked, and covered with pine nuts. It is common in mountainous areas like the Pyrenees. In Catalonia, it is traditionally eaten on Fat Tuesday.
• Coca de llauna: A spongy coca with orange juice, baked in a tin in the oven.
• Coca de Llavaneres: A coca filled with cream and covered in marzipan, sugar, and pine nuts.
• Coca Maria: A spongy coca similar to a tall ensaïmada. It is often eaten with hot chocolate.
• Coca de Montserrat: A soft, long, and narrow coca covered with sugar, from Montserrat.
• Coca de pinyons: A pine nut coca.
• Coca de poma: An apple coca, eaten around the Terres de l'Ebre and the Valencian community.
• Coca de sucre: A simple coca with just oil and sugar. In the Balearics, they sometimes add sobrassada.
• Coca de Taronja: An orange coca.
• Coca de Vidre: A "crystal coca." This coca is long and very thin, with sugar and anise. When baked, it forms a clear, shiny layer of caramel, which gives it its name. Sometimes, pine nuts are added.
• Coca de Xocolata: A sweet closed coca filled with chocolate.

Cocas and Celebrations

Cocas are a big part of traditions in these regions! They are a common food for everyone and a basic part of Catalan cuisine.

In Catalonia, cocas are strongly linked to holidays and festivals. People often buy or make cocas for special days like Easter, Christmas, and Saint John's Eve. Some cocas are even named after saints and are eaten on that saint's day, like the Saint John's Coca.

However, many people also enjoy cocas just because they are delicious, without any special holiday reason. For example, the Coca de Recapte is often eaten as a picnic when people go out into the fields.

Similar Dishes Around the Mediterranean

The coca is a type of dish found all over the Mediterranean. Many countries have similar cakes, pies, and pastries.

Here are a few examples:

• The Algerian coca is a variety of the Catalan coca. It is often a closed square pastry filled with onions, red peppers, tomatoes, and spices. It can also be shaped like empanadas.
• The Pissaladière is a similar dish from Provence in France.
• The Lahmacun is a flatbread with toppings from Turkey.
• The Bouchée à la Reine from France, Belgium, and Luxembourg is another example.

Sweet pies are also found across Europe. The King's cake (called Tortell de Reis in Catalan) is a traditional sweet bread eaten in Occitania and other Catalan-speaking areas during the New Year holidays.

Images for kids

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  Sweet and savoury cocas

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See also

In Spanish: Coca (receta) para niños