Description
The graininess and unique taste of Italy’s most famous chocolate are enriched in this recipe by aromatic notes of citrus fruits, making it unique
Modica Chocolate is one of the most important gastronomic symbols not only of the Baroque city but also of all of Sicily. Today it is known and exported all over the world and, during the G7 in Taormina in 2017, Melania Trump even made an encore. Modica Chocolate is one of the Italian Agri-food Products and has been protected by the IGP mark since 2018. What makes this product unique is its "raw" and almost primordial taste. This is the result of the particular process with which it is made, the so-called "cold processing". The cocoa mass is combined with sugar at a temperature between 45 and 50 degrees. This ensures that the latter does not dissolve and remains in the form of crystals. The result is a chocolate with a grainy texture where all the ingredients are perfectly distinguishable. In this article you will discover the history, the production method and the ingredients of Modica Chocolate. The traditional processing of Modica chocolate is the one used by the Mesoamerican populations and that the conquistadors imported together with cocoa. This method is still used in Mexico by the descendants of the Chontal Maya. In Europe, in addition to Modica, it also survived in Spain in the cities of Villajoyosa and in Catalonia, where xocolata a la piedra is prepared and in France in Bayonne. It starts with the roasting of the cocoa beans followed by grinding on a stone called metate, using a pestle: the metlapil or hand. The cocoa mass thus obtained was combined with water and corn flour and then poured from above several times in order to form the characteristic foam. This drink could be flavored with the addition of honey, chilli, spices and flowers.