Different kinds of coques made in the Valencian style. Photos by Restaurant Pont Sec (Dénia, Central Valencian Country).

A coca de recapte. Photo by Forn Inalba bakery (Balaguer, Ponent, Catalonia).

Coques (singular: coca) are a traditional food eaten all around the Catalan Countries. It's a flat bread base similar to a pizza base and can have different toppings depending on what's in season in that time of the year. The most common toppings are tomato, peppers, aubergine/eggplant, garlic, onion, salted fish, local types of cured meat, pork sausages, and other local vegetables. Many towns or areas also have their own typical recipes.

The base can have a different shape depending on the area. In the central-south Valencian Country, they're round and so small that they can fit on a hand (like the photos included in this post). In Catalonia and the Balearic Islands they're usually big and rectangular with rounded edges, though some areas might also make them round.

(The areas coloured are approximate)

Even though the Neapolitan pizza is the one that has become famous all around the world thanks to the Neapolitan migration to the USA, this kind of flatbread base with toppings is a very common Mediterranean food since Ancient times. Different Mediterranean cultures eat variations of this idea.

Ancient Roman fresco found in Pompeii that depicts a table with food, including a flatbread that looks similar to a pizza, though of course with different ingredients (tomato wasn't known in Europe at the time).

The coca de trempó, a fine and crispy dough with small tomato, pepper and onion slices - a recipe as simple as tasty.

This coca is typical from Mallorca, but many similar coques (flat bread) are very typical in all the Catalan countries. In fact, it’s a very common Mediterranean dish, related to other Mediterranean food like the Italian focaccia and pizza, the Turkish pide, the Armenian lahmacun, or the pissaladiera from Provence.