We have no doubt that you’ve heard about the viral chocolate craze that’s all over our social media feeds – Dubai chocolate.
The original bars combine the indulgent flavours of chocolate, pistachio and tahini with filo pastry, taking inspiration from the Middle Eastern dessert, knafeh. Knafeh is a dessert made with spun pastry dough layered with cheese. It’s then soaked in a sweet, sugary syrup and finished with crushed pistachios. Fix Chocolatier in the UAE combined these flavours into their popular chocolate bar, “can’t get knafeh of it”.
Although the Dubai-based chocolatiers have been in business since 2021, the chocolate has gone viral this year. Dubai chocolate has racked up more than 120 million views on TikTok, and it’s so popular that the £15 bars of chocolate are only available for a few hours each day.
Following its popularity, we’ve seen Waitrose limit customer purchases on Dubai-style chocolate, Aldi sell out of a pistachio crème, and even international nut shortages. M&S has had to restock its viral big daddy pistachio bar week after week as the whopping block of chocolate continues to fly off the shelves.
Although fans of Fix Chocolatier’s Dubai chocolate would say that nothing measures up to the original, many well-known chocolate brands are getting in on the action, creating sell-out bars that offer pistachio lovers a more accessible taste of the goods – well, if you can get your hands on them. Godiva is the latest brand to release a crispy, creamy and nutty bar to shelves. This is everything you need to know.
Godiva pistachio and kadayif milk chocolate bar: £7.95, Tesco.com
Godiva’s pistachio and kadayif milk chocolate bar weighs 122g and brings together smooth and velvety milk chocolate with the delicate crunch of kadayif, a type of shredded filo dough used in Middle Eastern and Balkan desserts. While not exactly the same as knafeh, used in the original bars, the only difference is that kadayif is the type of shredded dough itself, rather than knafeh, which is the dessert that uses kadayif as its base.
As you bite into the creamy chocolate, you’ll experience rich, nutty flavours, with a blend of sweet and aromatic notes, and plenty of crispy texture. The bar sells for £10, but right now, with a Tesco Clubcard, you can get a taste of Dubai’s much-loved chocolate treat for £7.95. Be quick, though – we don’t expect the bars to hang around for long.
Godiva isn’t your only option for Dubai chocolate – we’ve reviewed M&S’s the big daddy pistachio bar
