What is the secret of Dubai chocolate?

There's one taste that's gone viral lately: Dubai chocolate. There are many who love it and many who hate it. So is it just because it has gone viral on social media? What about the taste? How is it different from the pistachio chocolate we know? Or is there another secret?

Some flavors come and go, become fashionable, and then suddenly disappear as if they never existed. The world of desserts is the perfect environment for such fashions. The fad for Turkish lokma, fried dough balls filled with all kinds of creams came and went like that. People queued in long lines to try the cream-filled version and then suddenly went back to the classic plain one, and the fad was instantly over. Some flavors may have lost their former dominance, but they still exist and live on with their lovers, even if they do not retain their former fame. For example, the once ubiquitous “Trileçe” was everywhere, now you have to look for the milk-syrup-drenched cake topped with a caramel glaze to find a good one. Such examples are endless. Most of such once novel trends flavors are rather late inventions. San Sebastian cheesecake and Tiramisu, for example, whose fame has now spread all over the world, for better or worse, do not have really deep-rooted pasts but were brilliant ideas that became a fashion and spread all over the world, albeit with many changes. What is more, both are executed so differently that they have nothing to do with the original, they have now become global tastes with endless variations. This is how the idea of cold baklava was born, which eventually found its way onto the menu of even the most reluctant classic baklava shops. Some of these new sweets are here to stay and even become world classics.

The latest taste to join this trend in the dessert world is the viral Dubai chocolate. The idea came from a pregnant British-Egyptian woman living in Dubai who was craving chocolate. Unable to find the exact taste she was looking for, Sarah Hamouda created a flavor that was a cross between chocolate and dessert and began producing it to her own taste both for herself and commercially to sell. The name Dubai comes from the place where it was created, but the very core flavors are truly Middle Eastern influences in its creation. So, flavor-wise success was guaranteed but the rest is a bit of a social media story. But the truth is that many chocolatiers are now producing their own Dubai chocolate and different variations are emerging. But is it here to stay? Let's take a look at the reasons why Dubai chocolate is so popular by deconstructing the famed bar to its components.

Pistachio-chocolate duo

Dubai chocolate brings together two great taste champions: everyone's favorite combo of chocolate and pistachios. Years ago, it was Nestlé that first thought of bringing these two flavors together. According to historian Saadet Özen’s research on the history of chocolate in Türkiye, the first pistachio chocolate was not produced here, but in Switzerland in 1933, interestingly with a Turkish name “Damak” meaning “Palate” in Turkish. The name obviously had the direct connotation of something tasty and delicious on the palate in the Turkish mind. However, for Europeans, the name suggested a more oriental flair, having a relation with Damask or Damascus, famed for its pistachios. Actually, on the bright green package it was written: “Chocolat au Lait aux Pistaches de Damas.” Damak chocolate was introduced to the Turkish market much later than in Europe, it took 33 long years for the much-loved square chocolate to be produced here in 1966. Although the brand is discontinued in Europe, it is still one of the most popular chocolate varieties in our country because it appeals to the Turkish palate, and it also gave birth to many other variations. In short, pistachio chocolate has a history of almost a century.

Flavor or texture?

The winning taste combo of pistachio and chocolate is obvious, but I think the real success of the Dubai chocolate bar comes from its texture. It is an oxymoron dual phenomenon of being gooey and crunchy at the same time. The gooey texture of the pistachio cream inside is one of the features that makes Dubai chocolate interesting not only visually, but also in the way it feels on the palate. It is worth mentioning here the “Chocolate Lava Cake,” which has been created in the past 20-30 years and has become a permanent feature. It was first made in France in the 1980s and at least three French chefs claimed ownership of its recipe which was once a closely guarded secret. Eventually, it became so popular that it was made everywhere and even offered on the market as a ready-made cake mix. Once seen as a great chef’s magic trick, these chocolate mini-cakes with a vicious liquid chocolate filling have become something that every housewife can easily make for her guests.

The secret is in the crunch

The real secret of Dubai chocolate is not only about the taste or the visually striking gooey filling. The real trick lies in the crunchy texture of the “kadayıf” inside. In fact, there are many examples in the chocolate world of chocolates that have gained a large market thanks to their crunchy and crispy texture. These creations include Swiss Toblerone (1909), American Rice Krispies (1939) and Ferrero Rocher (1982). The secret of their success is this unique mouthfeel and that bite on the palate. In recent years, the already best-selling Damak introduced a new variety named “Damak Baklava” a milky white chocolate & pistachio bar with the added crunch of baklava. Dubai chocolate, on the other hand, is different from all the others, its crunch is more pronounced in the foreground. I find it most similar to the famous “Cennet Çamuru” dessert of Kilis, a Turkish town just north of the Syrian border. The name of the sweet is rather unappetizing name meaning “Mud of Paradise” and it really looks pretty much like greenish mud. Its creation dates back to the 1950s and was once known as “Kaymaklı Kırma Künefe” and makes use of broken pieces of kadaifi crisped in clarified butter, mixed with copious amounts of crushed pistachio and laden with local clotted cream. The rich dessert is now a classic Kilis delicacy and even has a geographical indication label. Dubai chocolate may have drawn inspiration from this or other similar Middle Eastern sweets, but its bite seems to be staying around for a long time!