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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by insanemantis@lemmy.world to c/rant@lemmy.sdf.org

For starters, does anyone even know about Dubai? Sure it's a very beautiful-looking city in the Middle East, but the economy is very corrupt. Human trafficking, slavery and whatnot. And with chocolate already being very slavery-driven as is, the implications alone are... questionable at face value. I'd be much more interested in chocolate based in places like Lebanon, Palestine or Iran, especially if they support a cause that helps the people there

Then there's the actual success. You're telling me that this is suddenly a worldwide sensation? It's just a chocolate flavor ffs. You like it because there's crunchy stuff in it. I can name SEVERAL other crunchy chocolates that are on par, if not better. Dubai chocolate does not taste bad, or even mediocre. It's pretty good

But is it sliced bread? Is it the pinnacle of indulgence? Sure it is, British-Egyptian plant...

It's money, marketing, and probably the most obvious example of it. It's already slowly going out of fashion, it's a gimmick

If you're hyped over it and buying it all up, congratulations...

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[-] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 34 points 1 day ago

The product was created in 2021 by a confectioner named Sarah Hamouda, who took her inspiration from a pregnancy craving for chocolate combined with pistachio and enlisted the Filipino chef Nouel Catis Omamalin to concoct the recipe.

Really, though, “created” is a strong word, since people across the Middle East have been making pistachio sweets for centuries, so “popularized” would be closer to the mark. Initially, the product wasn’t called “Dubai chocolate” at all, but the clunkier and more annoying name “Can’t Get Knafeh Of It,” after the “knafeh” filling.

Hamouda’s company did business in Dubai in relative obscurity until 2023, when an influencer named Maria Vehera—whose content revolves around trying different foods and restaurants in the United Arab Emirates—went viral with a TikTok video about the candy. Other influencers copied Vehera, as they do, and before long Dubai chocolate was a full-blown fad.

Seems to be a natural occurring fad.

[-] Nasan@sopuli.xyz 4 points 9 hours ago

I unironically like the original name more. It has a nice Bob's Burgers vibe to it.

[-] Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)
[-] Nasan@sopuli.xyz 2 points 6 hours ago

That's also better than Dubai chocolate.

I haven't even had it yet. I'm pretty sure every example I've seen of it personally is just chocolate with pistachio and some generic wafer in it rather than actual kataifi.

this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2026
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