{"id":38357,"date":"2026-03-19T13:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/?p=38357"},"modified":"2026-03-19T13:15:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:15:37","slug":"dubai-chocolate-a-look-back-at-the-food-trend-of-recent-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/dubai-chocolate-a-look-back-at-the-food-trend-of-recent-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Dubai chocolate: a look back at THE food trend of recent years"},"content":{"rendered":"

In just a few months, Dubai chocolate has become one of the most talked-about food phenomena on social media. Behind this ultra-indulgent bar lies a recent history, rooted in Middle Eastern culinary tradition and propelled to fame at lightning speed by TikTok.<\/p>\n

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Frozen raspberries coated in chocolate, lasagna soup, feta and tomato dough… TikTok continues to surprise palates by turning certain dishes into viral content<\/strong>, even forcing manufacturers to redouble their efforts to meet demand. The most notable example? The famous Dubai chocolate<\/strong> that has flooded social media over the past two years and is now enjoyed as a sweet treat all over the world. Let’s take a look back at a rise that no one saw coming.<\/p>\n

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From a chocolate workshop in Dubai…<\/h3>\n

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Dubai Chocolate<\/strong> was created in 2021<\/strong> by Fix Dessert Chocolatier<\/strong>, a boutique based in Dubai. Its creator, Sarah Hamouda, an engineer of British-Egyptian origin<\/strong>, teamed up with chef Nouel Catis Omamalin with a simple but bold idea: to transform the experience of knafeh<\/strong>, an iconic Middle Eastern dessert made with kadaif [editor’s note: fresh angel hair], cheese, butter, and pistachios or walnuts, topped with syrup, into a modern chocolate bar. The flagship product, called \u201cCan’t Get Knafeh of It,\u201d<\/strong> remains a niche item, sold in limited quantities and mainly to a local clientele.<\/p>\n

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DR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Its DNA lies in its composition. This milk chocolate bar<\/strong> contains a generous pistachio cream center, enriched with tahini, the famous sesame paste<\/strong>. Inside, there is also kataifi, a finely shredded filo pastry<\/strong> that provides a striking crunchy contrast<\/strong>. This combination creates an unusual sensory experience: crunchiness mingles with melt-in-the-mouth texture, while pistachio dominates the flavor profile. Visually, the bright green filling contrasts with the chocolate. A detail – alongside its exotic name – that would play a key role in its success…<\/strong><\/p>\n

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…at tastings around the world<\/i><\/h3>\n

For nearly two years, Dubai chocolate remained a niche product<\/strong>. Everything changed at the end of 2023<\/strong> when a tasting video posted on TikTok went viral. Filmed in close-up, it highlights the sound of the chocolate cracking, the filling dripping, and the ASMR effect<\/strong> (a feeling of well-being caused by certain stimuli, particularly auditory ones, ed.) that instantly captivates internet users. Within a few weeks, the video is viewed tens of millions of times. The hashtag #DubaiChocolate exploded<\/strong> and thousands of users tried to reproduce the recipe or get their hands on the famous bar.<\/p>\n

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DR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The virality led to a rapid shortage of the original product, which further fueled its appeal<\/strong>. Faced with demand, many brands decided to take inspiration from the concept<\/strong>. Industrial chocolate makers launched \u201cDubai-style\u201d bars, while international chains adapted the trend to drinks, ice cream, and desserts<\/strong>. Caf\u00e9s, pastry shops, and restaurants incorporated pistachios and kataifi into their creations<\/strong>, often presented as limited editions. The phenomenon grew to such an extent that it even influenced the raw materials market, with demand for pistachios rising sharply worldwide.<\/p>\n

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Dubai chocolate in the world of sweets<\/h3>\n

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Like any viral trend, Dubai chocolate has given rise to some unexpected creations<\/strong>. Chefs and pastry chefs are revisiting classics by incorporating this signature pistachio-chocolate-kataifi combination<\/strong>. We are seeing the emergence of filled croissants, brownies, desserts, and even galettes des rois inspired by Dubai chocolate<\/strong>, blending French tradition with Middle Eastern influences. On social media, variations are multiplying, from homemade versions to more luxurious interpretations.<\/p>\n

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DR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Today, Dubai chocolate is no longer just a TikTok buzz. It symbolizes the new way in which culinary trends spread: a local creation, designed for taste but also for image, can become global in a matter of days.<\/strong> Although the initial craze has stabilized somewhat, pistachio remains one of the star flavors of the moment, and the \u201cDubai style\u201d continues to inspire brands and artisans. This combination can be found on supermarket shelves everywhere, and the term \u201cDubai chocolate\u201d has entered the culinary vocabulary. More than just a bar of chocolate, this product has become a cultural marker of the era of viral food trends, straddling the line between gastronomy, marketing, and social media.<\/p>\n

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However, it remains to be seen whether the war in Iran and its geopolitical repercussions in the Gulf monarchies will ultimately undermine its success.<\/strong> The very name of Dubai, which until now has been a selling point<\/b> because it evokes unbridled luxury in the middle of the desert and an oasis of pleasure in the heart of the Middle East, is now far less appealing since military drones and debris from Iranian missiles have darkened the skies over the City of Gold.<\/p>\n

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Read also > War in the Middle East: influencers in Dubai in focus<\/a><\/p>\n

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Featured photo : Bonni Bakery<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In just a few months, Dubai chocolate has become one of the most talked-about food phenomena on social media. Behind this ultra-indulgent bar lies a recent history, rooted in Middle Eastern culinary tradition and propelled to fame at lightning speed by TikTok.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":552,"featured_media":38356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"%%post_title%% %%sep%% %%sitetitle%%","_seopress_titles_desc":"In just a few months, Dubai chocolate has become one of the most talked-about food phenomena on social media... but for how long?","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[767,1367],"class_list":["post-38357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trends","tag-gastronomie-en","tag-tendances-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/552"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}