Menakao 44% Milk Cooking & Baking Chocolate Couverture.
This is some of the worlds most ethical chocolate, but not just chocolate bars this is premium and ethical cooking chocolate suitable for both home and professional bakers – this is a 2.5kg bag of 44% milk chocolate couverture (buttons), also available in a 230g bag.
This is a rich and fudgy couverture with a flavour that comes alive with a burst of vanilla, red fruit and citrus notes. Although that fruity edge is typical of cocoa from the island of Madagascar, it’s unusual to find it in a milk chocolate. This is perfect for a variety of uses in the kitchen.
Menakao 44% Milk Cooking & Baking Chocolate Couverture – vanilla, fudge, milk
Better even than Fair Trade, this chocolate doesn’t just taste good, it does good. Madagascan chocolate maker Menakao proudly crafts its chocolate on the island, using only local ingredients. Unfortunately, this is rare even for craft chocolate – it’s estimated that less than 5% of the world’s chocolate is produced in the same country the cocoa is grown. By making the chocolate in Madagascar in addition to growing the cacao on the island, Menakao generate about 4-5 times the benefit of Fair Trade for the local Madagascan economy.
One of only a few chocolate makers in the world that make chocolate at the source, Madagascar-based Menakao produce a deliciously fruity range of cooking chocolate using local beans. Read more about Menakao
At the Sourdough School and the Sourdough Club we ensure that we use ethical chocolate in all our chocolate-based recipes. It is so difficult to find truly ethical cooking chocolate for home and professional use in supermarkets and high street shops, so we are delighted to include this range in our online shop. Our Sweet Sourdough recipes can be found on our Sourdough Club website.
If you aren’t already a member you can join the Sourdough Club and learn to bake sourdough with Vanessa online.
Beyond Fair Trade chocolate
Many artisan chocolate makers source their cocoa beans directly from the farmers and farmer co-operatives, cutting out the middlemen and ensuring a significantly higher price, which is more than the Fair Trade premium, for the farmer.
Why Bean-To-Bar chocolate?
Just as the way grapes are grown and nurtured is critical for the quality of great wine, the same is true for cocoa beans and chocolate. Soil conditions, climate and the care and attention of the farmers and chocolate makers all impact the final product.
The best chocolate often comes from chocolate makers who have a direct relationship with the farmers they buy from. This direct trade also cuts out middlemen and ensures higher payments to cocoa farmers in some of the world’s poorest countries.
The same care and attention to detail also characterises the makers who source these beans and create the bars or the cocoa powder. Whether they’re working out of a small kitchen or a dedicated factory, all these makers are united in the care and attention they make to creating their chocolate.
You can view the full range of Cocoa Runners cooking and baking chocolate, cocoa powder and cocoa nibs in our shop.
