Moakaffè
The dessert Moakaffè is a double tribute: first, to the wine of Arabia, the intoxicating drink presumed to have originated from Caffa in Ethiopia, arriving in Yemen between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and then propagated in Europe by way of the Arab and Ottoman worlds; and second to the coffee producer Moak – the ancient Arabic name for Modica – a historic partner of Ciccio Sultano.
The Moakaffè contains a base of mascarpone cream, covered with a cocoa crumble on which sit brioche filled with cardamom ice cream and frozen Moak coffee. The dish is finished at the table by pouring over organic espresso spiked with rum. An invigorating dessert, to say the least.
Note
According to a tradition handed down by the Maronite friar Antonio Fausto Nairone, a theologian at the Sorbonne in Paris between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the archangel Gabriel would offer coffee to the prophet Muhammad, whom after drinking it “disarmed 40 knights in battle and satisfied no less than 40 women”.