He was, of course, referring to the fertile plains of Val di Noto, which encompass the south-eastern third of Sicily. “This area has been growing the best almonds for centuries,” he told me when I stopped by on a “Perfect Pairings” itinerary arranged by Scott Dunn. He uses the locally grown Avola variety – which has a higher fat content than the dried Californian version most of us will have tried before – and peels them fresh from their hard green shells, before blending, boiling and freezing. So, how does he conjure two simple ingredients into a dish of unparalleled creaminess, smoothness and delicate, almost floral sweetness? There’s no sorcery at play, Corrado insists – it’s all down to the almonds. It is devoured with blissful smiles by nonnas and bambinis alike at the café’s pavement table. Pale and glistening, the iced dessert is served in small bowls alongside pillowy, demerara-crusted brioche rolls for dunking.

But the greatest triumph of this fourth-generation chef-proprietor – the dish that has drawn foodies from five continents to the Sicilian hilltop town of Noto – is the granita. Heaped in the glass-fronted counters at Caffè Sicilia are marzipan fruits of pinch-yourself realism, iced tiny sugar-dusted biscotti studded with nuts, and featherlight almond flour sponges named Pan d’Iblei after the nearby mountain range.

A sort of alchemy occurs when Corrado Assenza combines almonds and sugar.

Scott noto