Coca amb tonyina

Bonfire Delicacy

Ingredients

Water: 125 cl
Olive oil: 250 cl
Dry anise: 65 cl
Flour: 1/2 kg
Salt: 5 g
For the filling: tuna belly, fried onion, pine nuts, and sweet paprika (optional)

Preparation

In a container, pour the oil, water, and anise, which should be boiled.

Add them to the flour and mix well in the blender until a consistent dough is formed. During this process, what stands out most is the pleasant anise smell emanating from the dough.

Using a mold, knead the base of the coca, which is thinner than the top layer to ensure the inside cooks well and doesn’t remain raw. Add the filling and cover with another layer of dough.

Brush with egg to give it shine and color, then bake for about 40 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.

And, enjoy the delicacy of the Bonfires of San Juan.

We thank Horno El Melsa in Alicante for opening their bakery to show us how a coca amb tonyina is made.

About this recipe

Every festivity has a culinary delicacy associated with them that identifies them. The Bonfires of San Juan in Alicante have a symbol, it’s the coca amb tonyina, coca with tuna (thin tuna belly pie). Tradition dictates eating the coca on this very day, June 20th, during the setting up of the bonfires. This tradition, which dates back years, also mandates accompanying the delicious coca with bacores (early figs), the fruit of the fig tree that reaches its most exquisite level of ripeness and flavor during these days. The coca is delicious, juicy, and exquisite. And perhaps one of the secrets is that it tastes better when eaten on the street. In a raco, a barraca, or on a terrace. And it’s because one of the characteristics of the Bonfires of San Juan in Alicante is that they are festivities lived on the street, with great participation and animation. The center is closed to traffic so that, in addition to the more than 200 bonfires distributed throughout the streets and squares of Alicante, barracas and racos can be set up, which are enclosures where the revelers replenish their strength, have lunch, eat, and drink, dine and, above all, maintain good conversations that extend into the early hours, dance and enjoy music with the sky and stars as a ceiling.

Tradition says the coca must be eaten today, but Alicantinos have adapted to modern times. The bakeries of Alicante have been busy baking this exquisite pie for days, and many have already savored it. Purists, however, will wait until tonight, bringing trays of coca and les bacores fresques (fresh figs)
to enjoy while admiring the centerpiece of the festivities—the bonfire. These ephemeral works of art, now displayed on the streets of Alicante, are filled with vibrant colors, irony, and social commentary in some of their scenes.

We visited a traditional bakery where they have been preparing coca amb tonyina for days. They allowed us to watch how it is made and shared their recipe, so if you’re feeling inspired, you too can make your own coca. But as we said, it tastes best when enjoyed in the streets of Alicante.