Cioccolato di Modica

Last updated
Modica chocolate with cocoa butter blooming CioccolatoModicano2012-10.jpg
Modica chocolate with cocoa butter blooming

The cioccolato di Modica (Modica chocolate or chocolate of Modica, also known as cioccolata modicana) is an Italian PGI specialty chocolate, [1] typical of the comune (municipality) of Modica, in Sicily, characterized by an ancient and original recipe using manual grinding (rather than conching) which gives the chocolate a peculiar grainy texture and aromatic flavor. [2] [3] [4] As prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT), it is a specialty officially recognized by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Policies. Modica chocolate is made "cold" (a freddo) according to a traditional recipe and is not conched.

Contents

Metate Jaguar Head Metate Piedra Gold Museum CRI 07 2019 9143.jpg
Metate
Modica chocolate traditional ingot bar Sabadi-modica-chocolate.jpg
Modica chocolate traditional ingot bar

History and characteristics

The specialty was introduced in the County of Modica by the Spaniards, during their domination in southern Italy. [5] [6] Their noble house was the most influential feudal power in southern Italy in the 16th century, during the Spanish domination of Sicily. [7] Even today there is a similar form of preparation in Spain in the form of chocolate a la piedra; such varieties are also known in Mexico and Guatemala. According to Leonardo Sciascia, the recipe comes from Alicante; there were originally only two forms of preparation, with cinnamon and with vanilla. [8] Before the product became an internationally known specialty, it was a holiday dessert in noble families. The Spaniards probably learned from the Aztecs the technique of processing cocoa beans through the use of metate; however, Modica chocolate uses sugar in addition to cocoa, an ingredient which would have been unavailable to the Aztecs.

Modica chocolate only became nationally known in 1999, when the chocolatier Franco Ruta published a newspaper article and subsequently appeared on the Maurizio Costanzo Show on television. Ruta was managing director of Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, founded in 1880 [9] [10] and called Caffè Roma until 1992. [11] It has been in the hands of Franco Ruta's son Pierpaolo Ruta since 2016. At the same time as Ruta's television appearance, the popular police series Inspector Montalbano , which was partly filmed in Modica, was broadcast on Italian television. The comune (municipality) of Modica reinforced this publicity by hosting an annual chocolate fair ("Chocobarocco"). Within a short period of time there were 75 companies in Modica producing or selling chocolate. The chocolate industry thus became the city's largest employer. [12]

In 2003, 20 local producers founded the Consorzio di Tutela del Cioccolato di Modica to protect Cioccolato di Modica as a protected designation of origin (prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale italiano).

In 2017, the consortium also applied for protection at EU level as indicazione geografica protetta (IGP) for the same designation, which was granted in October 2018 with the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1529. [13]

The Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, which is considered to be the oldest still existing chocolate shop in the region, [14] did not participate in the consortium. Rather, the Ruta family criticized the specification as insufficient [11] [15] and, after the publication of the IGP, produced chocolates as a provocation [16] under the name cioccolato di un paese vicino a Ragusa (lit. 'chocolate from a country near Ragusa ').

Manufacturing

Modica chocolate is cold processed and has no cocoa butter added, at 45 degrees Celsius and without the conching process sugar does not dissolve; that's why it has a different texture. The finished chocolate therefore has a grainy, rough consistency, with the inclusion of small air bubbles; it crumbles when broken. When sold, the bars are slightly gray on the surface due to the cocoa butter that has been excreted. In the mouth, the chocolate unfolds an intense cocoa aroma. According to the age old Modica cold working process all the beneficial properties of cocoa are kept intact.

Ground cocoa, from which the cocoa butter has not been extracted, is heated to a maximum of 40 °C (104 °F). Sugar is added to the mass and possibly a spice such as cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, chili, ground almonds or nuts or grated citrus peel. The cocoa content is 45–90%. In traditional hand preparation, the mass was rolled out in a crescent-shaped, heated mold made of lava rock in several steps with rollers of different thicknesses until it had the desired consistency. Nowadays this is done by machines. The finished, warm chocolate mass is then poured into pewter molds in the form of thick bars.

Modica chocolate often has a white patina and tends to crumble. The cocoa butter blooming alters the traditional organoleptic properties of the product. Apart from the substances mentioned, Modica chocolate contains no other ingredients, in particular no milk, no butter, no vegetable fat and no lecithin.

Events

From 2005 to 2008, Modica hosted Eurochocolate alongside Perugia. [17] Since 2009 a festival named "Chocobarocco" is held every year in the city, [18] [19] organized together with the Fine Chocolate Organization. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mascarpone</span> Italian cream cheese

Mascarpone is a soft Italian acid-set cream cheese. It is recognized in Italy as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caciocavallo</span> Italian cheese

Caciocavallo is a type of stretched-curd cheese made out of sheep's or cow's milk. It is produced throughout southern Italy, particularly in the Apennine Mountains and in the Gargano peninsula. Shaped like a teardrop, it is similar in taste to the aged southern Italian provolone cheese, with a hard edible rind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bottarga</span> Salted, cured fish roe pouch

Bottarga is a delicacy of salted, cured fish roe pouch, typically of the grey mullet or the bluefin tuna. The best-known version is produced around the Mediterranean; similar foods are the Japanese karasumi and Taiwanese wuyutsu, which is softer, and Korean eoran, from mullet or freshwater drum. It has many names and is prepared in various ways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toma cheese</span> Italian cheese

Toma is a soft or semi-hard Italian cow's milk cheese, noted for its excellent melting qualities. It is made primarily in the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions of Northwestern Italy. Toma varies with region and locale of production, and is closely related to the French tomme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modica</span> Comune in Sicily, Italy

Modica is a city and comune of 54,456 inhabitants in the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. The city is situated in the Hyblaean Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venchi</span> Gourmet chocolate brand

Venchi is an Italian gourmet chocolate manufacturer founded by chocolatier Silviano Venchi. After its establishment in Turin in early 1878, the company expanded throughout Italy with its Nougatine, small candies made of crushed and caramelized hazelnuts coated in dark chocolate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss chocolate</span> Chocolate processed in Switzerland

Swiss chocolate is chocolate produced in Switzerland. While cacao beans and other ingredients such as sugar cane originate from outside Switzerland, the actual production of the chocolate must take place in Switzerland. Switzerland's chocolates have earned an international reputation for high quality with many famous international chocolate brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuisine of Sardinia</span> Cuisine originating from the island of Sardinia

The cuisine of Sardinia is the traditional cuisine of the island of Sardinia, and the expression of its culinary art. It is characterised by its own variety, and by the fact of having been enriched through a number of interactions with the other Mediterranean cultures while retaining its own identity. Sardinia's food culture is strictly divided into food from the land and food from the sea, reflecting the island's historical vicissitudes and especially its geographic landscapes, spacing from the coastline to the ragged mountains of the interior. The Sardinian cuisine is considered part of the Mediterranean diet, a nutritional model that was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caffarel</span> Italian chocolate company

Caffarel is a chocolate-manufacturing company based in Luserna San Giovanni, Italy, which is a subsidiary of Lindt & Sprüngli. The company was founded in Turin during the 19th century. According to the company, it was founded in 1826 when Pierre Paul Caffarel (1801–1871) converted an ex-tannery into a chocolate factory and invented Gianduiotto in 1852.

Torta setteveli is a seven-layer cake. Traditionally served at birthdays, it includes chocolate and hazelnuts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyblean ricotta</span> Italian dairy product

The Hyblean ricotta is a dairy product derived from the whey produced in Libero consorzio comunale di Ragusa and is recognized as prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale since 2000.

<i>Neccio</i> Italian chestnut flour dessert

Neccio, also called niccio, ciaccio, or cian, is a galette made with chestnut flour, typical of some mountain zones of Tuscany and Emilia, in Italy, and on the island of Corsica, in France.

The Antica Dolceria Bonajuto is a chocolate factory founded in Modica in 1880, known to be the oldest in Sicily and one of the oldest in Italy and for having been frequented by illustrious people of international fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alprose</span> Swiss chocolate manufacturer

Alprose is a Swiss chocolate producer based in Caslano (Ticino). It was founded in 1957 under the name Titlis SA and received its current name in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabbrica di Cioccolato Cima Norma</span> Former chocolate factory in Dangio-Torre, Switzerland

The Fabbrica di Cioccolato Cima Norma S.A., also Chocolat Cima-Norma S.A., in Torre-Dangio was an industrial chocolate production company in the canton of Ticino. It was founded in 1903 by the Cima brothers. It went bankrupt in 1968. The company Cima Norma S.A. also stands for the economic development and modernization advancement goal from the beginning of the 20th century for the mountain valley Blenio Valley, which was classified as a peripheral region.

<i>Zampina</i> Italian variety of cold meat

Zampina di Sammichele is a cold cut awarded the Italian designations of origin: prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale (PAT) and De.Co.

<i>Torrone Nurzia</i>

Torrone Nurzia, also called torrone tenero al cioccolato aquilano, is a type of nougat from Abruzzo, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siracusa–Gela–Canicattì railway</span> Railway line in Italy

The Siracusa–Gela–Canicattì railway is a single-track line in Sicily, Italy managed by RFI. The route connects Syracuse on the Ionian side of Sicily to the Mediterranean side, crossing, with an east-west route, a number of large urban centers to Canicattì.

Casàda is a typical dish from Primiero, in Trentino, Italy; it is prepared in two versions: casàda con la tenza and casàda con la pojna.

References

  1. ↑ "Mipaaf - Tredicesima revisione dell'elenco dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali". politicheagricole.it. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Modican chocolate: Sicily's Ancient Bar of Cocoa - Great Italian Chefs".
  3. ↑ Laura Mantovano (2004). I maestri del cioccolato. Gambero Rosso, 2004. ISBN   8887180806.
  4. ↑ Elsa Mazzolini, Alessandra Meldolesi (2004). L'Italia del cioccolato. Touring Editore, 2004. ISBN   8836532926.
  5. ↑ Anthony Di Renzo (August 2010). Bitter Greens. SUNY Press, 2010. ISBN   978-1438433196.
  6. ↑ Joanne Lane (5 February 2011). Siracusa & Sicily's Southeast. Hunter Publishing, Inc, 2011. ISBN   978-1556502026.
  7. ↑ Dolceamaro : storia e storie dal cacao al cioccolato. Zeffiro Ciuffoletti. Firenze: Alinari. 2003. p. 87. ISBN   88-7292-462-6. OCLC   930422261.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ↑ Sciascia, Leonardo (1983). La contea di Modica. Giuseppe Leone. Milano: Electa. ISBN   88-435-0980-2. OCLC   18059270.
  9. ↑ "Cioccolato "bean to bar": dalla fava alla tavoletta. Moderne contaminazioni di Bonajuto". la Repubblica (in Italian). 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  10. ↑ "Una CIOCCOLATA con SCIASCIA - la Repubblica.it". Archivio - la Repubblica.it (in Italian). 28 February 2014. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  11. 1 2 Ferrante, Stefano (2019-10-08). "Antica Dolceria Bonajuto non fa Cioccolato di Modica, ma possiamo spiegarvi". Dissapore (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  12. ↑ Entrepreneurship and cluster dynamics. Cristina Boari, Tom Elfring, Xavier F. Molina-Morales. New York, NY. 2016. p. 218. ISBN   978-1-317-30000-7. OCLC   951623931.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. ↑ "Durchführungsverordnung (EU) 2018/1529 der Kommission". www.eur-lex.europa.eu. October 15, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  14. ↑ Becchi, Michela (2015-10-18). "I grandi del cioccolato italiano. Bonajuto di Modica". Gambero Rosso (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  15. ↑ "Il cioccolato di Modica ottiene la certificazione Igp. Luci e ombre del disciplinare". Gambero Rosso (in Italian). 2018-10-16. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  16. ↑ "Cioccolato di Modica, Igp e polemiche" (PDF). www.bonajuto.i. November 8, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  17. ↑ "L'Eurochocolate a Modica". 2006-11-13. Archived from the original on 2006-11-13. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  18. ↑ Isa Grassano (2011-10-04). 101 cose divertenti, insolite e curiose da fare gratis in Italia almeno una volta nella vita. Newton Compton Editori, 2011. ISBN   978-8854134188.
  19. ↑ Duncan Barry (November 5, 2011). "All things chocolate!". Times of Malta . Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  20. ↑ "Promossa dal Comune e da Fine Chocolate Organization "ChocoBarocco" a Modica dal 30 aprile al 3 maggio del 2009. – Radio RTM Modica" (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-04-25.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.