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South East Sicily - Val di Noto

In 1693, this region was struck by a terrible earthquake, an earthquake that is now infamous and famous. Infamous for its considerable human toll and destruction. Famous because the architects who breathed new life into these cities were masters of the Sicilian Baroque. Their work lives on in Modica, Ragusa, Ibla, Scicli and other towns, eight of which are World Heritage Sites, and in the words of UNESCO, “represent the culmination and final flowering of Baroque art in Europe”. So important is this architecture that students even know it simply as “Earthquake Baroque”.

Deep amidst these baroque wonders, you will find a fascinating series of canyons between Modica and Ragusa. They host relics and reminders of the various peoples that once inhabited the region, from Bronze Age cavemen, to Christians in the catacombs and Byzantine church ruins. These archaeological treasures are adorned by ancient farms, olive groves and carob trees evocative of the region.

We will look at Modica, which is not far from the sea. A city held captive by the valley that guards it, but as sunset falls, you see a thousand lights glimmer softly, like lanterns around a finely crafted Nativity scene.

Modica reached the height of its splendour in the Aragon Dynasty (14th to 18th centuries) and you can feel a little of the Spanish influence everywhere, from the dialect of the local people, to the ornamentation of the buildings. But this wasn’t all they left. The Spanish had brought with them customs and secrets, acquired fresh from the adventures of the conquistadors. Perhaps most important was a recipe. It was unique. It originated from distant Mexico, and from a fabled people. Who were they? What was the recipe? They were, of course, the Aztecs, and the recipe was for chocolate.

Even now, this recipe remains unchanged in traditional Modica and Mexican homes alike. Originally, chocolate was eaten simply with a piece of bread, not as a luxury item, but for nourishment. It formed the staple diet of the poor.

Industry never quite managed to appropriate this process, and it remained a craft that was carried out in the home. Each family either made their own chocolate, or entrusted it to the rather romantic figure of the ciucculattaru. Cart laden with cocoa beans, he went door to door, making chocolate on demand, preparing it on his metate according to taste.

Walk around Modica, and you will see the many chocolatiers who produce the solid chocolate, refusing to compromise their “primitive” methods. The result? A product that tastes and feels unique on the palate. Its special quality is in picking out and enhancing the pure and individual qualities of each ingredient used, whether the cocoa beans, sugar or spices. Its recipe is also simple. Cocoa paste obtained from ground beans is melted in a copper vessel. A water bath rather than direct heat ensures that the temperature doesn’t go above 45 degrees Centigrade – one of the Aztecs’ secrets! Sugar and spices, traditionally vanilla, cinnamon or chilli powder, are then mixed in. Nowadays, local ingredients may also be added – pistachios, candied orange peel or fava beans.

When you try this chocolate, you will notice that it feels rough and grainy, due to its sugar crystals, which are left intact. Its colour is brown and speckled, with a greyish shimmer. It is crumbly and tastes pleasantly bitter.

WHERE TO TASTE

When in Modica, you can walk around town and alternate a visit to fab baroque buildings to a cup of chocolate or a chocolate tasting at one of the many artesan labs. I highly suggest you try Bonajuto, the oldest chocolate lab in town, where you'll be able to taste many of thier samples for free, but alos for thier amazing biscuits and cakes.

Also do not miss Don Puglisi, another artesan lab, born as a social lab to employ single mothers, now still run by women and employing ladies with difficulties, it produces some of the finest chocolate and biscuits in town. They also sell a series of organic, mafia free products. It is worth a visit. Another place worth a stop is Caffè dell' Arte - this is also a bar where you can have hot chocolate, mini cakes of blissful flavours and samples of chocolate.

All these labs are in Corso Umberto, the main street of Modica.

EVENTS

The first week of December, Modica hosts the fascinating and delicious CHOCOBAROCCO, an unmissable event for chocolate lovers. Hundreds of chocolatiers set up their stands in the streets of Modica creating wonderful atmospheres and offering gorgeous smells. Competitions, sensorial workshops, tradition and culture discovery tours, concerts and a lot of (free) amazing chocolate make the city vibrant as ever.