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Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars
Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
A local example of Dubai chocolate, made by Hakim Sweets in El Cajon
Video:
FEAST!: Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars
Smooth chocolate on the outside, crunchy, gooey, and green on the inside. People who are very online will have heard of Dubai chocolate, which has become a viral sensation over the past year because just look at it.
The green is a creamy pistachio paste, the crunch is from knafeh a finely shredded phyllo and sweetened with simple syrup, employed in a variety of Middle Eastern pastries you typically find served any place that makes baklava. The mixture of the two gets fed into a chocolate bar mold, and that's it: a candy bar with a nutty, vivid green surprise when you bite into it. Instantly shareable.
It's called Dubai chocolate because a Dubai candy shop called Fix Dessert Chocolatier kicked off the craze with the candy bar it cleverly calls "Can't Get Knafeh of It." In the wake of its online popularity, the shop now sells it online, for about 20 bucks a bar.
But now we in San Diego can go to a little dessert and bakery counter in El Cajon and find locally made Dubai chocolate for $8 a bar.
A dessert counter inside a Mediterranean Grill
Hakmi Sweets recently opened inside a grill on Main Street called Tarbosh Mediterranean Restaurant, formerly Gate of Damascus. Hakmi makes a few Syrian desserts, including others made with kataifi, those clusters of delicate phyllo shreds that are so good because they answer a specific question: how many crispy strands of food does it take before it has to be considered crunchy?
Syrian desserts—and meals, at the Tarbosh counter—are meant to be the main attraction here. There's an entire menu of treats, including baklava, and both chocolate and vanilla cake pops (that are pretty much the same color inside as they are outside, and the interiors melt in your mouth ($2.50 each).
A selection of treats from Hakmi Sweets, including two types of Dubai chocolate
But if the Dubai chocolate bars aren't the first to catch your eye, they probably should be. Because first of all, who ever heard of a bad chocolate bar? But aside from being uncommonly photogenic, they are pretty fun to eat (though very sweet—be sure to order coffee to wash it down, whether Turkish coffee or a latte).
I wouldn't be surprised to see a whole new family of kataifi candy bars grow out of this, to rival those based on caramel and peanuts, or crispy rice. To that end, Hakmi also makes an alternative Dubai chocolate bar with a flavor and color twist: a white chocolate bar with dark chocolate paste inside.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars
Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars
Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
A local example of Dubai chocolate, made by Hakim Sweets in El Cajon
Video:
FEAST!: Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars
Smooth chocolate on the outside, crunchy, gooey, and green on the inside. People who are very online will have heard of Dubai chocolate, which has become a viral sensation over the past year because just look at it.
The green is a creamy pistachio paste, the crunch is from knafeh a finely shredded phyllo and sweetened with simple syrup, employed in a variety of Middle Eastern pastries you typically find served any place that makes baklava. The mixture of the two gets fed into a chocolate bar mold, and that's it: a candy bar with a nutty, vivid green surprise when you bite into it. Instantly shareable.
It's called Dubai chocolate because a Dubai candy shop called Fix Dessert Chocolatier kicked off the craze with the candy bar it cleverly calls "Can't Get Knafeh of It." In the wake of its online popularity, the shop now sells it online, for about 20 bucks a bar.
But now we in San Diego can go to a little dessert and bakery counter in El Cajon and find locally made Dubai chocolate for $8 a bar.
A dessert counter inside a Mediterranean Grill
Hakmi Sweets recently opened inside a grill on Main Street called Tarbosh Mediterranean Restaurant, formerly Gate of Damascus. Hakmi makes a few Syrian desserts, including others made with kataifi, those clusters of delicate phyllo shreds that are so good because they answer a specific question: how many crispy strands of food does it take before it has to be considered crunchy?
Syrian desserts—and meals, at the Tarbosh counter—are meant to be the main attraction here. There's an entire menu of treats, including baklava, and both chocolate and vanilla cake pops (that are pretty much the same color inside as they are outside, and the interiors melt in your mouth ($2.50 each).
A selection of treats from Hakmi Sweets, including two types of Dubai chocolate
But if the Dubai chocolate bars aren't the first to catch your eye, they probably should be. Because first of all, who ever heard of a bad chocolate bar? But aside from being uncommonly photogenic, they are pretty fun to eat (though very sweet—be sure to order coffee to wash it down, whether Turkish coffee or a latte).
I wouldn't be surprised to see a whole new family of kataifi candy bars grow out of this, to rival those based on caramel and peanuts, or crispy rice. To that end, Hakmi also makes an alternative Dubai chocolate bar with a flavor and color twist: a white chocolate bar with dark chocolate paste inside.