Coca mallorquina
Mallorcan flatbread, savoury or sweet. The savoury coca de trampó tops it with summer vegetables; the sweet coca de patata is brioche-light, dusted with powdered sugar.
Coca is the Balearic flatbread family. The dough is a thin yeasted base baked with toppings or eaten plain. The most-cited savoury version is the coca de trampó, topped with diced tomato, green pepper, onion and olive oil, eaten cold in summer like a Mallorcan pizza. Coca de verdures piles on more vegetables (chard, parsley, sometimes pine nuts). The sweet line splits between coca de patata (a soft, brioche-light potato-enriched bun dusted with powdered sugar, a Mallorcan breakfast classic) and coca de Sant Joan (the Catalan version eaten on 23 June, more egg-bread than pizza). Each town in Mallorca has its own takes.
How it's served
Cold for the savoury versions (coca de trampó eaten in slices at room temperature). Warm or room-temperature for the sweet ones, with coffee at breakfast. Sold at any Mallorcan bakery (forn); also widespread at Mallorcan summer fiestas.
Regional variation
Catalonia has its own coca tradition, especially the coca de Sant Joan (a sweet bread with candied fruit eaten on the night of 23 June) and savoury cocas topped with botifarra or escalivada. The Valencian coca is closer to a thin pizza. The Mallorcan coca de patata is distinctive enough to belong only to the island.
- Origin
- Mallorca
- Etymology
- From the Catalan coca, a generic word for a thin baked pastry or flatbread, possibly related to the German Kuchen.
Frequently asked
What is a Mallorcan coca?
A thin Mallorcan flatbread, baked with savoury toppings (vegetables, sometimes sobrasada) or made sweet as a brioche-light potato bun (coca de patata). The most common savoury version is coca de trampó, topped with summer vegetables and eaten cold. Sold at any forn (bakery).
What's the difference between Mallorcan and Catalan coca?
Same word, different traditions. Mallorcan cocas are smaller, often round, and split between summer vegetable-topped versions and the sweet coca de patata breakfast staple. Catalan cocas are larger and rectangular, with the coca de Sant Joan (a sweet candied-fruit bread) the most famous version.
Is coca de patata sweet or savoury?
Sweet. Coca de patata is a soft, brioche-light bun enriched with cooked potato in the dough, baked round, and dusted with powdered sugar. Eaten at breakfast with coffee or hot chocolate, mostly in Mallorca and especially in Valldemossa, the town most associated with the version.
Related terms
- EnsaïmadaSpiral-shaped Mallorcan pastry made with pork lard (saïm), dusted with powdered sugar. Plain or filled with cabello de ángel, cream or chocolate.
- Pa amb tomàquetCatalan bread rubbed with garlic and ripe tomato, finished with olive oil and salt. Comes with almost every meal.
- SobrasadaMallorcan cured pork sausage that's spreadable rather than sliceable: soft, paprika-red, eaten on bread or stirred into sauces.
- Gató d'ametllaMallorcan almond cake: a dense, gluten-free sponge built almost entirely from ground almonds, lemon zest and eggs. Served with almond ice cream.
- Mona de PasquaCatalan Easter cake gifted by godparents to their godchildren. Traditionally a sweet bread with hard-boiled eggs; modern versions are elaborate chocolate sculptures.