Andrea Iurato

Pastry Chef and Master Chocolatier – Casalindolci

Andrea Iurato is a skilled pastry chef and Master Chocolatier from Modica, a city in the province of Ragusa, in the heart of the Val di Noto (Sicily, European Region of Gastronomy candidate 2025), well-known for its IGP chocolate. Together with his sister Mariagrazia, he represents the second generation running Casalindolci, with a pastry shop and lab in Modica Alta (Upper Modica), and a second pastry shop in Modica Bassa (Lower Modica), historical centre of the Sicilian baroque style.

Quality craftmanship and the selection of the best ingredients from the territory have always been the values underpinning Andrea’s work. He followed his mother Giorgia Crucetta’s steps who, in 1995, took over Casalindolci where she was employed and created the family business.

Today, Casalindolci is a reference in the province of Ragusa, a synonym of excellence, taste and refinement. Andrea contributed his personal twist in terms of research and passion, conceiving unique pastries such as his chocolate and pears pie, one of a kind; or his ‘mpanatigghi (traditional pastry from Modica) prepared according to the traditional recipe of the nouns from an ancient convent in Upper Modica.

Andrea Iurato was jury member of IGCAT’s World Food Gift Challenge Awards 2023.