DAKAR, July 7 – Compelled by the COVID-19 pandemic to desert plans to open a restaurant, Danuta Nganko, a Belgian-Congolese chef in Senegal’s capital Dakar, settled as an alternative on a fair tastier endeavor: to grow to be the nation’s first connoisseur chocolatier.
“When COVID began, all my actions stopped,” she mentioned. “I thought of working with a product, and I believed, ‘Why not chocolate?’ … As a result of I actually love technical kinds of cooking, I believed it was for me.”
Since then, Nganko has realized a brand new dream with the opening of Venko – Senegal’s first and solely artisanal chocolate firm.
By fusing Belgian chocolate with domestically sourced elements resembling bissap, or the hibiscus flower, and moringa, Venko has rapidly developed a status for mixing distinctive flavors with trendy presentation, making Nganko’s chocolate a coveted delicacy amongst Senegal’s confectionary fans.
“The thought is to take a really classical chocolate and work it with native flavors,” Nganko informed Reuters forward of World Chocolate Day on July 7. “I hope that shifting ahead, my work may help to place these flavors a bit into trend.”
Named after a bakery established by Nganko’s mother and father throughout her childhood – a fusion of the couple’s final names – Venko has navigated the COVID-19 outbreak by leaning closely into deliveries and catering for particular occasions.
Whereas missing the cocoa tradition of different regional powerhouses like Ivory Coast and Ghana, Senegal’s stability has made it a gorgeous vacation spot for buyers and entrepreneurs, together with Nganko.
Nganko needs to alter the way in which Senegalese regard chocolate.
“I believe the subsequent problem shall be to accustom Senegalese clients to purchasing chocolate on a day-to-day foundation,” she mentioned. “They don’t but purchase chocolate as one thing to have within the fridge and take a chew, however we are going to get there.”
