Chocolate Making, Fish Markets, Volcanos and saying Goodbye
May 11, 2023
Today we visit the Baroque town of Modica.
Once again, the fascinating history of Sicily and the many nations that have dominated her result in an unexpected find. When Columbus discovered the New World, we are told that one of the foods brought back was the tomato, now a dietary staple in most areas of Italy and all over Europe. But did you know that we can also thank Columbus’s discovery of the Americas for chocolate??
Archaeological findings date cacao production in the Amazon to 2000 BC. On his fourth voyage to the New World, Columbus was introduced to cacao as a currency. It finally made its way to Spain in the early 1500s. By the end of the 16th century, it was used there medicinally as a remedy for high fever.
During the Spanish rule of Sicily between 1500 and 1700, cacao, along with the Aztec methods of making chocolate, arrived in the town of Modica where the people there have been making it ever since. This cold method of making chocolate has no added fats, just the cocoa butter naturally found in the beans. Because of the low-temperature processing method, the sugar does not dissolve and remains intact, along with all the beneficial properties of cocoa.
For years there were many local chocolate makers in Modica who sold their product door to door. Pasta Amara is an interesting documentary about this.
Our first stop in this charming town was the Fattojo Bonajuto, where six generations of the family have been making chocolate in this traditional method for 150 years. We were greeted in their facility with a traditional chocolate drink and given a demonstration of how to go from bean to bar. At the end, little gift boxes with samples of their products were presented to each of us. One of the sweets in the sample box was a special cookie made with a secret ingredient. Check out the video below to learn more.
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