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Modica Chocolate PGI
HISTORY, INFO, PLACES, INTERESTING FACTS

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Let’s discover the fascinating history of Modica Chocolate, the sweet specialty from Sicily with roots in a very distant past, when cocoa was a sacred food for the Mayas and Aztecs. Let’s deepen our knowledge of the traditional production method, which profoundly influences the characteristics of this great product. Let’s find out many interesting facts and curiosities.

Bar of Modica Chocolate PGI.

What is Modica Chocolate?

Modica chocolate is a confectionery specialty closely linked to the Sicilian town bearing the same name. It’s a particular type of chocolate made, still today, using a ‘cold’ production process, whose origins date back to Aztec times, if not earlier. Thanks to such a method, the bars of this delicacy have a grainy and crumbly consistency, as well as an intense flavor that preserves the natural aroma of cocoa.

Modica: the enchanting city of chocolate.

Modica, the home of the Modica Chocolate PGI, is a beautiful town in the province of Ragusa, located in the southeastern part of Sicily. It’s a place that seems to have stepped out of a painting, characterized by centuries of culture and an incomparable Baroque architecture: so special that it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The history of Modica Chocolate.

The history of Modica Chocolate.

The beginnings of the history of Modica Chocolate are generally traced back to the time of the Spanish domination over southern Italy, which began in the 16th century, during the reign of Charles V (*1).

It was at that time that the infamous ‘conquistadors’, returning from the Americas, brought to Europe what the Aztecs called ‘xocoàtl’: a bitter drink with miraculous qualities (*2), prepared using the seeds of a plant hitherto unknown in the old continent: cocoa (*3).
In Modica, a countship in south-eastern Sicily, the art of processing its beans was refined compared to the original technique, learned from the Mesoamerican peoples, which involved cold processing. Between the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, this method, thanks to the addition of sugar (unknown to overseas people), gave birth to Modica chocolate in the form we know still today (*4).

The fledgling specialty soon became a mainstay of the local confectionery tradition, although its high price meant it was initially reserved for the nobility and the wealthy.
Its consumption took root to such an extent that the original product, characterized (among other things) by its typical granularity, could survive the revolution caused by the invention of ‘conching’ (*5): a technique that involves heating and slowly stirring the chocolate to obtain a smooth and homogeneous consistency, therefore quite different from the Modican delicacy.
Still today, Modica Chocolate PGI represents a taste rooted in the distant past.

*1: Charles V of Habsburg could boast a considerable number of titles, including German Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Archduke of Austria, as well as King of Naples and Sicily;

*2: Not surprisingly, it was considered the ‘Food of the Gods’;
*3: The sacred drink included among its ingredients, in addition to roasted and ground cocoa beans, water (hot or cold), maize flour, pepper, chili pepper, honey, and vanilla.

*4: Valuable information about this is available in the archives of the noble Grimaldi family, settled in the County of Modica since the 16th century.

*5: The invention of the ‘conching’ technique dates back to 1879 and is attributed to Rodolphe Lindt.

The origins of the word 'chocolate'.

The origin of the word ‘chocolate’.

The word ‘chocolate’ has fascinating origins closely linked to the ancient Mesoamerican peoples: it comes from ‘Xocoatl’, a name used by the Aztecs to indicate a sacred drink made from cocoa beans. When, in the 16th century, the fearsome Spanish ‘conquistadors’ came into contact with this culture, they adopted the term and changed it to ‘chocolate’. ‘Chocolate’ then spread across Europe, with slight variations ranging from the French ‘chocolat’ to the Italian ‘cioccolato’.

Modica Chocolate: cocoa beans.
The traditional method to make Modica chocolate.

Modica chocolate: the traditional production method.

In the past, Modica chocolate was made according to a process inherited from the ancient Mesoamerican peoples, who used just a few, primitive tools (mainly the ‘metate’) to make a drink ‘worthy of a god’. Let’s find out the technique used by the first Modican ‘cioccolattieri’ (chocolatiers).

1) The cocoa beans are roasted;
2) The husks of the beans are removed;
3) Using an arched, heated rolling pin, the ‘metate’, the beans are crushed;
4) Sugar is added, which may have been previously enriched with (e.g.) cinnamon, pistachio, chilli, etc.
5) The mixture is further worked on the ‘metate’, until it turns into a soft dough;

6) The paste is poured into special rectangular moulds;
7) Before the paste solidifies, the moulds are shaken (‘beating’) to make the contents homogenous and remove any air bubbles;
8) The chocolate ingots are taken out of the moulds, ready to be packaged;

Modica Chocolate: from the fruit to the cocoa (1).
Modica Chocolate: from the fruit to the cocoa (2).
Modica Chocolate: from the fruit to the cocoa (3).
Modica Chocolate: from the fruit to the cocoa (4).

Nowadays, most of the process described above is no longer carried out by hand, but with the help of machines such as the ‘tempering machine’, which melts the cocoa powder at a temperature close to 40°.

The production specification, which is closely linked to the recognition of the PGI mark, authorizes the use of these new technologies and seeks to reconcile the need to increase production with the one to preserve the authenticity and tradition of the specialiy.

Traditional preparation on video.

This fascinating video shows the traditional procedure used to make Modica Chocolate: a technique rooted in the history of the sweet speciality. Many thanks to Federico di Rosa, the author of the video and owner of the YouTube channel.

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The Italian PGI mark for Modica Chocolate.

The PGI mark and the specification.

Given its uniqueness of its history anc characteristics, it should come as no surprise that, in 2018, Modica Chocolate was awarded the IGP mark (Protected Geographical Indication). This mark is linked to a specification document that strictly defines the characteristics that the original product must have.

Modica Chocolate made without 'conching'.

No ‘conching’ in the production of Modica Chocolate.

Modica chocolate is distinguished from other chocolates for its particularly granular consistency. This peculiarity is due to the lack of use of ‘conching’ in its production process: ‘conching’ is a refining method, invented in 1879 by Rodolphe Lindt (yes, ‘that’ Lindt), which lasts from several hours to a few days and consists in stirring the chocolate at a high temperature. This makes it smooth and homogeneous, giving it a velvety texture. Modica chocolate, on the other hand, skips this stage and remains ‘rough’ on the palate, with clearly distinguishable (and visible) sugar crystals.

Modica Chocolate: a 'metate' to make chocolate.

The history of Modica Chocolate: the ‘metate’.

The metate is undoubtedly the most important tool in the traditional production of Modica chocolate. It is a rectangular, concave slab of basalt stone of volcanic origin.

Its history is thousands of years old, dating back to the legendary Olmecs and Aztecs. All people who, countless centuries ago, used the metate to grind cacao and corn with a kind of rolling pin, also made of stone, known as ‘hand’.

Modica Chocolate: the flavors.

The many flavours of Modica Chocolate.

Modica Chocolate PGI, which has become famous thanks to its grainy texture and intense cocoa flavour, is available on the market in a wide variety of flavours, resulting from the addition of special ingredients during preparation. Here are the most famous ones:

  • Dark chocolate: the most classic, sold with different percentages of cocoa;

  • Vanilla flavoured chocolate;

  • Chocolate with citrus flavor;

  • Chocolate with cinnamon flavor;

  • Chocolate with Pistachio Verde di Bronte DOP flavor;

  • Chocolate with coffee flavor;

  • Sea salt flavor chocolate;

Many more exist, and many more are invented every year: new flavours renewing a timeless specialty that remains true to tradition.

Modica Chocolate: Eurochocolate fair.

Modica Chocolate events.

It comes as no surprise that a confectionery specialty as tasty and renowned as Modica IGP chocolate is the protagonist of a large number of gastronomic events held every year throughout Italy (and beyond). For those who are not satisfied with just tasting this delicacy and would like to learn more about it by meeting its most traditional producers, we recommend attending one (or more) of these events:

  • ChocoModica, a festival held every December in Modica that transforms the city into a veritable Eden for chocolate lovers;

  • Eurochocolate, an international event dedicated to chocolate, held in Perugia in the month of November. During this event, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year, Modica chocolate is always among the guests of honor;

  • Sigep in Rimini, an international ice-cream and confectionery fair held every year at the end of January, where a large number of Modican producers are present;

  • Salone del Gusto in Turin, an annual event organized by Slow Food, where Modica chocolate is presented as an example of the best Italian gastronomic tradition.

Meetings of this kind provide a real opportunity to know, taste and, if desired, buy this Sicilian delicacy.

Modica Chocolate: cocoa fruit and beans.

The Consortium of Modica PGI Chocolate.

The Consorzio del Ciocolato di Modica (Consortium of Modica PGI Chocolate) plays a fundamental role in the history of Modica Chocolate: founded in 2003, this association brings together the most traditional producers of this speciality. Its main function is to preserve the authenticity and culture of Modica chocolate, guaranteeing its quality and promoting it on the market.

Consorzio di Tutela del Cioccolato di Modica IGP.
Address: C.so Umberto I, 149
97015 Modica (RG) – ITALY
Official website: www.cioccolatodimodica.it
Mail: info@cioccolatodimodica.it
Tel.: +39 391 7391318

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