Copertura Nero Modicano
Elenka product code 118
A dark coating made by processing Modica chocolate, with the sugar crystals left intact so the shell is grainy as well as crisp. It is the only covering in the range that adds texture of its own, and that is the whole reason to choose it.
Specification sheets are supplied to trade customers on request.
About Copertura Nero Modicano
Every other covering in this category is trying to be smooth. This one is deliberately not, and it is the most interesting product on the shelf because of it.
What Modica chocolate is
A Sicilian tradition in which chocolate is worked at a low temperature — cool enough that the sugar never dissolves into the cocoa butter. The crystals stay whole, and you feel them.
That is a processing tradition rather than a recipe. The result is a chocolate with a granular, faintly sandy bite and a directness of cocoa flavour that comes from not being conched into smoothness. It is closer to what chocolate was before industrial refining than to anything on a supermarket shelf.
Elenka is a Palermo company, and Modica is ninety minutes down the coast. This is a local product for them in a way that most of the range is not.
Why it matters as a coating
A shell already gives you a snap. What it does not usually give you is texture inside the bite — after the first crack, a normal covering is smooth against a smooth gelato and the mouthful has one dimension.
The granules change that. You get the crack, then a sustained grain against the gelato, and the whole thing eats more like a composed dessert than a coated scoop. It is the cheapest way in this category to make a stick or a bar feel like it was designed.
Handling the granules
Two adjustments and no real difficulties.
Use a wider aperture. The granules will block a fine nozzle. If you are enrobing rather than dipping, size for the particle.
Dip briskly. A slow dip drags on the granules and builds an uneven, heavy shell. Contact time controls thickness in any covering; here it also controls whether the granules distribute evenly.
Do not try to melt the graininess out by holding it hotter. Above about 45 degrees you damage the fats, and the crystals are the product — smoothing them away leaves you with an ordinary dark coating that cost more.
Everything else follows the family: water seizes it irrecoverably, and a product straight from a blast freezer will crack the shell. The full set is on Copertura Ciocco-Nero.
What to put under it
Something smooth. Contrast is the whole argument, so a plain cream, a pistachio or a vanilla gelato underneath eats far better than one already carrying a crunch ripple, where the two textures compete and neither reads.
What we do not publish
Ingredients, allergens, shelf life and storage conditions are absent from this page because no Elenka specification sheet is held for the Australian range. Absent means the data is not held, never that the answer is no. Request the sheet for any product you are considering and we will obtain it.
Technical specifications
| Recommended dosage | to taste to taste — Applied warm at 35–40 °C. Allow for the granules when sizing a nozzle or a dip. |
|---|---|
| Format | 3 kg pail, 4 per carton |
| Applications | gelato sticks and bars, cones, semifreddo coating, dessert finishing |
| Elenka product code | 118 |
Full specification on request
The ingredient list, allergen declaration, shelf life and storage conditions for Copertura Nero Modicano are provided on the Elenka specification sheet. We supply it on request — please do not rely on the product name when answering a customer allergen enquiry.
Related products
Copertura Ciocco-Nero
A dark chocolate coating built on cocoa paste and skimmed cocoa, applied warm at 35 to 40 degrees and setting within seconds into a thin shell. No tempering, no crystal structure to manage — and no tolerance at all for water.
Code 7345 kgCassata Siciliana
A compound paste that reproduces the Sicilian cake rather than a single flavour, built on freeze-dried ricotta and candied fruit. The 250 gram dosage is high because most of what is in the pail is the cake's own components, not a concentrated flavouring.
Code 737N5 kgCroccante di Mandorla
Caramelised Sicilian almonds processed by hand into granules. It has two lives: sprinkled at service it is a decoration, and worked into a mix at 130 to 150 grams per litre it is a flavouring with the authentic taste of almond brittle.
Code 1972 kgCopertura Bianca 9510
A white coating built on cocoa butter, giving the flavour and the pale colour of white chocolate. It is the covering that does the most visual work, because white over a dark gelato is the only combination in this category that reads from across a room.
Code 4752.5 kg
Frequently asked questions
What is Modica chocolate?
A Sicilian chocolate worked at a low temperature so the sugar never dissolves into the cocoa butter. The crystals stay whole, which gives the characteristic grainy bite — it is a processing tradition rather than a recipe or an ingredient list.
Does the graininess cause problems on the bench?
It changes the handling rather than causing problems. The granules will block a fine nozzle and drag on a slow dip, so use a wider aperture and dip briskly. Do not try to melt the graininess out — heating it away is heating the product away.
Where does it work best?
Over something smooth. The contrast is the point, so a plain cream or pistachio gelato under it eats far better than a gelato that already carries a crunch.