Donna Elvira and Pure Nacional chocolate

Modica  chocolate is famous because it is the one in Italy that uses an antique Aztec recipe  which calls for processing it cold in order to preserve the natural qualities of the cacao bean and its primitive flavor. The recipe was brought to Modica in the 16th century by the Spanish and today this Sicilian town is the only place in the world where this tradition continues along with the indigenous communities in Mexico and Guatemala.

Dolceria Donna Elvira  began production in 1999 when Elvira acquired the confectionery of Signora Sudano, who knew all the ‘secret’ recipes of Modica’s ancient monasteries. What makes this Dolceria special is that it is the only one in all Modica which makes its chocolate from bean to bar . In order words, it is involved in every step of production starting from the cocoa bean and uses no semi-elaborated ingredients. They select the beans and prime ingredients and pay great attention to every stage of production: the toasting of the beans, their slow grinding and transformation into liquid form and, finally, the creation of the famous bar.

Donna Elvira seeks out the best cocoa cru, importing beans from around the world: from Vietnam to Ecuador and including the Wild Beniano, a wild variety from Bolivia, and Nicaragua’s famous O’Payo. These varieties have the capacity to unleash their aromas and particular characteristics when processed cold. Now the Dolceria has come out with a new chocolate made from the rare Peruvian Pure Nacional beans . “We had known for some time about this legendary variety,” Elvira said, “unfortunately using it had been just a dream because we had no way to process it. Totally transforming our processing method to bead-to-bar allowed us to finally make this dream come true”.