When the Ontinyent Fair arrives, ovens across the town fire up for one essential tradition: the Coca de Fira.
This local favourite is linked to chilly November days and the start of the fair, although the excitement now begins earlier with the first pebràs mushrooms gathered during the pebrassà.
If you have never tried it, the Coca de Fira is a hearty, warming flatbread topped with the town’s own sausages (llonganisses) and black puddings (botifarres). These give it a flavour that sets it apart from other cocas across the region.
You will also find artichokes, ideally grown locally, and of course the true star of the mountain: the pebràs. These wild mushrooms are collected by local foragers known as pebrassers, and there is even a local saying: “si no hi ha pebràs, no hi ha coca”, if there are no mushrooms, there is no coca.
Coca de Fera: The humble dough
The base of a good coca is simple but important. While some cooks add milk, eggs, or baker’s yeast, the traditional version uses only water, olive oil, flour and salt.
A popular secret tip is to mix in a little of the juices from the cooked toppings. It gives the dough a richer taste and, frankly, makes the whole kitchen smell fantastic.
Legend says the coca was born when someone’s bread dough refused to rise. Instead of throwing it out, people flattened it, baked it, and sweetened it with sugar or honey. From there, cocas slowly evolved into the sweet and savoury versions that exist today.
A community effort
The whole town gets involved in the Coca de Fera. Pebrassers collect the mushrooms, butchers prepare the signature sausages, pork belly and pork loin, and local restaurants and bakeries bake tray after tray.
The Valencian word coca comes from the Old Dutch kok, which also gave English the word cake and German Kuchen. Occitan even has còca, meaning cake. So yes, your fair flatbread is part of a rather international family tree.
Recipe: Coca de Fira (Ontinyent style)
Ingredients
- 500 g flour
- 1 glass of warm water
- 1/2 glass of mild olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 25 g fresh baker’s yeast
- Toppings: onion black pudding, meat black pudding (negret), sausages, pork belly, pork loin, pebràs mushrooms (rovellons) and artichokes
Preparation
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
- Add the salt and olive oil, then mix in the flour.
- Knead the dough and place it on an oven tray lightly coated with olive oil.
- Spread the dough out evenly and cover it with a cloth. Leave it to rise until doubled in size (about 1–1.5 hours).
- Once ready, spread the toppings over the dough.
- Add a pinch of salt to the meat.
- Add a little olive oil and salt to the mushrooms and artichokes.
Bake at 170 °C for 40 minutes.
