In the last 15 years, bakeries have opened their doors to international trends. Today the specialties of each region and the traditional classics coexist in the window with foreign delicacies such as, for example, cinnamon rolls, and trendy techniques such as feuilletée or lamination expand at a frenetic pace until they conquer new forms. Among the varied offering that we find today in bakeries, in the Spanish east, from Valencia to the Balearic Islands, and also in Andorra, passing through Catalonia, we find one of the simplest sweet preparations but, at the same time, practically immortal: coca of forner or bread coca.
We are talking about sweet bread coca, with soft dough, fluffy on the inside and golden on the outside, sprinkled with sugar that caramelizes a little and unevenly (and that is its sweetest grace) and that, according to the recipe, is Sprinkle with a good splash of anise just after coming out of the oven. Compared to the mannerism of today's pastries, the simplicity of coca de forner is astonishing and its history even more so.
From Forn de Cabrianes, in Sant Fruitós de Bages (Barcelona), Rosa Maria Abadal says that coca de forner was a useful tool for the baker and, in turn, the product of a process necessary for making bread: “ In the past, all ovens were wood-burning and the cokes, along with the llonguets or rolls, were used to settle and temper the oven before the first batch. “Both products appreciated the high temperature obtained after burning the wood and allowed the heat to be lowered a little, as well as generating the necessary humidity for the following batches of larger breads.”
Likewise, cocas de forner were also products of exploitation. Félix Fernández, a baker with his brother Sisco at Forn Nancy de Montcada i Reixac (Barcelona), which they run with their sisters Nancy and Dolors, explains that cocas de forner “were used to take advantage of the leftover dough that was not enough to make a loaf or a loaf. Some intelligent bakers thought about what to do with those remains and they flattened them, smeared them with olive oil and sugar, and thus obtained a great result from what was going to be a waste.
The baker explains that at Forn Nancy, founded in 1920 as Ca la Conxita by Pere Pila and renamed in 1978 by his father, José María Fernández, with the name of his wife and baker, Nancy Cabezas, coca de forner has always been made. in its stone oven, like in so many other bakeries. Abadal agrees that it is a product with a long tradition, which is already part of the heritage of the regional bakery.
Although there are those who add it, the most traditional coca de forner does not contain lard in its dough, which gives it a more forceful presence and enriches it, even though it does not need it. It has always been a sweet snack for any time of the day, originally much more affordable than other more elaborate bakery items, such as croissants, which were cut by weight and with a knife at the counter to the customer's liking.
“We continue to sell about 25 kilos of coca de forner every week,” says Fernández, confirming that this product is still alive and well. He explains that during Christmas celebrations he receives commissions from municipal groups and the City Council itself, such as for the afternoon in which the uncle is shitted in the Plaza de la Iglesia or for the lighting of the Christmas lights. “We make coca for about 600 people, which that afternoon is combined with hot chocolate, because being a bread dough it soaks up the drink very well. “Everyone loves it because it is so good and, for the older ones, because it brings back the nostalgia of other times.”
For his part, Abadal explains that the sourdough they use is about 90 years old, as long as the family saga of bakers, and that it is simply composed of flour and water, without any other additions. They call it Felip's coca de forner in homage to his grandfather, the founder of Forn de Cabrianes, and it is characterized by its sponginess "thanks to a high hydration of 70% and many hours of fermentation." The lightness in texture and flavor is one of the main characteristics of cocas de forner and one of the reasons why any piece is always too small.
“Our coca de forner has characteristic holes in the upper part,” he points out. The sourdough will be combined with flour, water, yeast and salt and will be rested in blocks and subsequently rolled, which will also require different rests. “Once the fermentations are finished, we stretch the dough on the shovel making it a little swollen, we paint it with extra virgin olive oil, we sprinkle the sugar and we bake it at a temperature of 280°C. When we leave, we throw a good splash of anise, the alcohol of which evaporates thanks to the heat given off by the coca.”
