Cocas, sweet and savoury

Cocas are part of the most typical and traditional gastronomy of Menorca, each home, each bakery and each pastry shop has its own recipe that is passed down from generation to generation, and that endures throughout the centuries.

In the 19th century, Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria in the volumes “Die Insel Menorca” of his great work “Die Balearen” dedicated a section to what the Menorcans ate in those times and cocas, both sweet and savoury, are the dish with the most variations, since in those times coca was breakfast and snack in most homes.

In Menorca we have savoury cocas and sweet cocas, in the first section the most common, the ones we will find in our bakeries and pastry shops are the tomato ones, the most typical and genuine of the island; the one with roasted red peppers, the one with vegetables, and also those that combine vegetables or tomatoes with fish such as the barrel sardine, called “pinxa” on the island, coming from the english word "pilchard". Also in this section we will find the so-called cocas tapadas.

As for the sweet cocas, the most typical are the apricot ones, the ones with plums, the ones with sobrasada and the ones with cream. In the eastern part of the island, we will find the old coca “amb roes”, made with pork rinds. Also in season we can find cocas with cherries or cocas with figs.

Both sweet and savoury cocas can be purchased in portions, whole or in individual cocas.