Coca Focaccia Pizza – Difference Between Coca, Focaccia, and Pizza

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I've made a number of pizza's and coca's lately and I thought about making a focaccia… When reading about coca, focaccia was mentioned, and when reading about focaccia, pizza was mentioned.

I have an excellent book on Italian cooking, it explains that focaccia is unleavened (no yeast) because of the climate. However, the wikipedia states that it does contain yeast…

The pizza I make has yeast and some olive oil. The coca has baking powder and lots of oil, and the focaccia also has lots of oil, but no yeast nor baking powder.

But I've seen recipes with coca's with yeast and less oil (=pizza recipe)…

So, is there a clear definition or is it just the name you care to use?

Best Answer

As you know, focaccia and pizza are Italian dishes, and coca is Catalonian (a region at Spain's northeast). They all have toppings, and similar doughs (with wheat flour and yeast).

Classical focaccias:

  • Are thicker than [Italian] pizzas (about 3˜4 cm (1.2˜1.6 in) thick)
  • Have rectangular shape
  • Have herbs, salt and olive oil as topping
  • Are baked for about 20 minutes.

Italian pizzas:

  • Are thin (less than 5 mm (0.2 in)) except their outer part
  • Are round (see notes below)
  • Have many different toppings, almost always including cheese, and most of the times tomato sauce or whole tomato
  • Are baked for about 90 seconds (this is very important for italian pizzas)

Cocas:

  • Can be as thick as focaccias or as pizzas, usually depending on the topping.
  • Are either rectangular like focaccias, or really long shaped like these ones from Barcelona.
  • Can be either sweet or salty.
  • Are baked for 30 to 45 minutes (aprox) (which is, in my opinion, their biggest distinction with pizzas)

Notes: I know there are some pizzas in America that do not fit in the description I gave. But I understand your question is focusing on Italian pizzas.

Also, sure there are pizza al taglio in italy, but despite having different shapes and cooking time than pizza pizza, they share the same Italian spirit, and can be noticed different different to cocas.

You can make the three of them with natural yeasts, like sourdough/lievito naturale/massa mare, but certainly not with chemical rising agents.

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