Coca de calabaza, Pumpkin coca —and fiestas de Moros y Cristianos in Onteniente
While searching on my blog, I realized that I don’t have any post about the most important festival in Onteniente, my hometown, las Fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, the Moors and Christians Festival! Many recipes can be related to this post, so it was hard to choose, but I decided on coca de calabaza, pumpkin coca, a sweet torta popular in my region, la Vall d’Albaida and la Sierra de Mariola.
Coca de calabaza is a pretty simple coca, it includes only a few ingredients. It is eaten by itself, like a morning snack or an afternoon merienda, but I also like to eat it as a light lunch —never mind the sugar in it, the pumpkin justifies it! It was one of my favorite snacks when I was young, because it was delicious in its simplicity. And did I mention it is also gluten free? Yep, no wheat flour or any other gluten developing ingredient.
Coca de calabaza, pumpkin coca, is a perfect dish to prepare for fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, because it can be prepared ahead of time to enjoy later, which is exactly what families do during the week long festival. There is too much going on at every time of the day and night to spend time cooking, so meals at every household are prepared in advance.
The Festival
Las fiestas de Moros y Cristianos, the Moors and Christians festival, is celebrated in Onteniente the last week in August, and it has been like this for 165 years. Yes, you heard well! In its current format, the festival has been celebrated continuously since 1860, but its origin is even older, 1571. The festival was declared of national interest in 1972 and in 2024 it was granted its declaration as a Festival of International Interest. To celebrate this recognition, on October 12, 2025, a representation of the festival paraded along 5th Avenue in New York City as part of the Columbus Day celebrations, or as we call it in Spain, el Día de la Hispanidad.
During the week long festival there is little time for sleep, much less cook, so most families, prepare meals in advance, to have at the ready when they get home after one of the many daily parades and events. Coca de calabaza, pumpkin coca, is a snack everybody loves to have at the ready when they need a quick bite to eat.
History
The streets of Onteniente come alive during the Moors and Christians festival, with joyous high spirits, magnificent and intricate costumes in the style of the era, and majestic music, in a dramatized recreation of the Christian conquest of the town by King Jaime I in the 13th century, after its invasion by the moors in the 8th century. The whole town takes part in the performances, on one or the other sides, in the role of either the Moors or the Christians, and reenact key events such as the entry of the troops into the city, a number of festive as well as religious parades, and the reception of the troops by their embassies before engaging in battle.
The festival revolves around the comparsas, parade groups under the name of a Moor or a Christian tribe. In Onteniente there are 24 comparsas, 12 on each of the Christian and the Moors sides. Among them are the Kábilas, Taifas, Mozárabes, Moros Españoles and Berberiscos on the Moor side, and the Labradores, Marineros, Almogávares, Cruzados and Cides on the Chistian side, up to a total of 24 comparsas.
Every year, each comparsa appoints its own captain, called primer tró. Also, every year, a captain, ambassador and flag bearer are appointed from the Moor and the Christian sides. The two ambassadors will engage in public, diplomatic talks the Monday of the festival, not arriving to any agreement, which will lead to a battle between the Moor and the Christian captains in the afternoon. These colorful reenactments take place in the City Square, under the watchful eyes of thousands of spectators.
The Moors and Christians festival pays homage to the Santísimo Cristo de la Agonía, the Holy Christ of the Agony, who will be paraded through town in three important religious events during the festival: on Saturday, the Descent of the Christ (la Bajada del Cristo) from the Santa Ana chapel, where it reposes year long; on Sunday, the Procession and two weeks later, the return of the Christ to its home in Santa Ana (la Subida de Cristo). These processions are solemn and uplifting.
But without a doubt, the most spectacular of all events of the festival is la Entrada, the entry of the troops into town. With the increasing number of participants, la Entrada has evolved in format overtime. Currently, the 12 Christian comparsas will parade first, from afternoon until about 10 PM, at the tune of upbeat pasodobles. After a one-hour break for dinner, the Moors will parade, regally and majestically, swaying to the tune of the marchas moras, until the wee hours of the morning, 3 or 4 AM.
Under the festival lights and the moving and uplifting music from the over 1000 musicians grouped in bands, dancers, warriors in their horses, warriors on foot, camels, floats, acrobats, lights and fire shows and a number of other surprises every year, will dazzle the thousands of spectators that line the streets. It’s truly a spectacle to see.
The role of women
From 1960 until the late 80s, only men were allowed to parade, to be true to history, when only men went to war. The role of women was symbolic, and represented by an elected Queen of the Festival and a court of 10 ladies-in-waiting, damas de honor.
In 1985 I had the privilege of representing the women of Onteniente as the Queen of the Festival, la Reina de Fiestas. It was a year of unexpected surprises, when we also celebrated the 125 anniversary of the festival, which included a trip to the Royal Palace in Madrid for an audience with the King of Spain (the real one, Juan Carlos I!). f you do the math, it has been 40 years since then, and to celebrate the anniversary, most of us got together this year to celebrate and reminisce.
As you can see from the photos and videos, women are now an integral part of the festival and the parades.
The Moors and Christians festival celebrates history, tradition and community, and fills Onteniente with color, music and joy. If you visit, be ready for round the clock music, dance and a city that doesn’t sleep. Having coca de calabaza, pumpkin coca, and many other ready to eat dishes like coca de pimiento, atún y tomate, Alcoy meat cakes, calamari and bean salad or pesto and sun dried tomate terrine will come in very handy.
I leave you some videos. Enjoy.
¡Felices fiestas!
PUMPKIN COCA
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 cups almonds
- 2/3 cups mashed baked pumpkin
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 Tbs butter
- 1 Tbs icing sugar optional
Instructions
Make the baked pumpkin:
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Slice a pie pumpkin or butternut squash in half, remove the seeds and place the two halves side up on a baking sheet.
- Bake for about 45 minutes or until the edges start to look golden and the flesh feels soft when you insert a fork.
- Remove the peel and mash the flesh with a fork or in a food processor, like I did.
Make the coca:
- Lower the oven temperature to 375ºF.
- In the bowl of a standup mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the lemon zest while continuing to beat.
- In the food processor, grind the almonds to a coarse sandy texture and add it to the egg mixture. Add the almond flour and beat until incorporated. Add the mashed baked pumpkin until incorporated.
- Butter an 13.5x9.5 baking dish. Line with a cut-to-measure piece of parchment paper and butter again. Pour the pumpkin and almond mix in the baking dish and tap lightly on the counter a few times to level it. Place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool. Unmold and cut into portions.
Notes
