This article was written by National Geographic Traveler (UK).
“I didn't like Modica chocolate. I thought it was just a tourist product with a lot of flaws,” says Simone Sabaini. “As soon as I started living here, I realized why I didn't like it and tried to make it better.”
Modica's crumbly, grainy chocolate is something that everyone likes. When the Spanish brought cocoa beans to Sicily during their 500-year occupation, they combined them with sugar and used techniques learned from the Aztecs to create rustic bars. Despite the smoother varieties becoming more popular elsewhere in Europe, Modica's chocolate makers stick to guns, producing chocolate at cooler temperatures and avoiding cocoa butter. However, Simone saw the opportunity to shake things up.
The Verona-born former investment banker fled to Modica in 2008 in search of a different pace of life. Inspired to make chocolate, he used organic Ecuadorian cocoa beans, as well as ingredients from fair trade and slow food producers. “In addition to purchasing better quality beans, we stopped using white sugar and processed chocolate at even lower temperatures, which made it taste better and longer shelf life,” he says. The result was a smoother modica chocolate.
The first sabadi chocolate shop is located in Modica, the old town. Photo by Marco Bottiegelli from Getty Images
In 2011 he opened his first chocolate shop, Sabadi, next to the Cathedral of San Giorgio, and the following year he was awarded Best Modica Chocolate by Compagnia Del Cioccolato, the National Association of Chocolate Enthusiasts. It has been stolen from its awards every year, and now Simone's store is an essential stop in the town famous for its chocolate. His work includes 60% cocoa chocolate mixed with mandarin skin. A gentle spicy spicy 75% cocoa bar with Sichuan pepper. A range of superfoods made with bee pollen and acai fruit.
In 2018, Modica Chocolate became the first variety in Europe to achieve protected geographical indication (PGI) status. And today, Sabadi ranges have nine chocolate bars, complying with the strict rules of PGI for Modica Chocolate, ranging from Sicilian red orange to cinnamon.
Recently, Simone has moved production to a facility at the edge of town where he offers tours. In 2021 he opened Bertha Buddy in the gardens of San Giorgio and the B&B, Le Stanze Del Cioccolato. His success led other producers to raise the game. “Innovating forced me to make a difference with them,” says Simone. “Anyway, it's not about me, it's about Modica chocolate, which has the name of the town I love.”
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