Is Dubai Chocolate Spread Better Than Nutella?

 One cannot deny the popularity of Dubai chocolate bars. It’s probably one of the biggest candy/chocolate trends recent times and even large name brands have added it to their repertoire. There are two things about Dubai Chocolate that make it interesting, the colour and the texture. The flavours not bad, but the fact that it’s bright green and has an odd crunch is really the appeal. The flavour isn’t bad either, but it’s not really that unique. 

While the name of this treat is Dubai chocolate, in reality the chocolate is only secondary, as everything really centres around the filling. Well, the other day I was at my local bulk food store and I saw that they were selling the filling on its own. I’ve seen this filling used on everything from cakes to croissants, but I was wondering how it might compare to Nutella as a spread on toast.

The first thing I’m going to do is break down exactly what this filling consists of... mostly. There could be other ingredients, but I tasted pistachio butter, sugar and those crunchy filo pastry like bits that give it its crunch. The thing about putting this on toast is that one of the main features of this spread that makes it work with chocolate, kind of doesn’t matter if you spread it on toast. The crunch is really what makes this filling something unique, and surprising for many on the first time trying it. However, if your toast is crunchy the crunchy texture of the filo crunch bits is kind of hidden.

I wouldn’t say that these crunch bits completely disappeared, but they’re very similar to the texture of the toast and therefore I don’t think I could call this the best use for this filling. At this point you’re pretty much just eating sweetened pistachio butter. I would imagine that this would work much better on something softer or smoother. Dipping chocolate is the obvious choice, but maybe as a layer on a soft cake would be nice as well. The one thing this trend has done for me is given me a better appreciation for pistachio butter, which is a great thing to have even if it doesn’t have the sugar or crunchy bits.

The Benefit of Trendy Treats

Today's featured review is a trendy treat. It's a chocolate bar from Dubai that's made all of the rounds on various social medias. I got my hands on one of these bars, and honestly thought I might just give it a pass. I've been burned a few times on candy and snacking trends. However, I just couldn't resist, and honestly I'm glad I couldn't. Every so often a trendy treat comes along that actually pays off.

Check out my review of this very popular chocolate bar.

New Junk Fud on the Road From UAE!

 In this episode of Junk Fud on the Road, Allison and Chris return to the UAE after a long time. They talk about the proliferation of western restaurants, Warner Brothers World and modern rules for Ramadan.

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UAE Highlights

 

I'm trying to think if there's any other country that I've visited more than the United Arab Emirates. I've mentioned many times in the blog that I have reasons for visiting places that have a lot of western stuff. I have, and currently live in countries that are a little off the beaten path. In fact, I've lived in at least two countries that have never had a McDonalds. Depending on your opinion of McDonalds, you might think that's a good thing, but what it means is that I've lived in countries that are often short on western comforts. While that gives me a great opportunity to sample what many would consider to be exotic goods, it also makes me miss some of the regular things I can normally get at home.  You might be wondering why I wouldn't just go back home regularly then, that's a simple answer, price and time. It's both expensive and very time consuming to get back home from where I am. Fortunately there are many countries and cities dotted around the world that offer some of the comforts that I'm used to in Canada, and when I have the chance I like to get my fill of comfort food.

United Arab Emirates is probably one of the best countries in the world to get wester comfort foods. I haven't been in a while, but I've found that's become even more true. It used to be a place that had all the regular places, with a few more obscure western restaurants. Now it's chock full of all the regular places, and plenty of very specific and obscure western treats too. Allison and I decided to take advantage of these, while still managing to make regular stops at one of our favourite places, Cheesecake Factory.

One of the stops we managed to make was at Dickey's Barbeque, which was fine. I believe Dickey's is a chain of BBQ restaurants in the US, but I'm not sure if it's made its way to Canada yet. It wasn't the best barbeque either of us had ever had, but filled the gap.

The strange thing about Dickey's is their obsession with their yellow cup. They really seemed keen that I not only get my soda in this yellow cup, but that I take the cup home. I'm presently using it as a cup to hold my paintbrushes, so I guess that's something.

We also managed to stop at 5 guys, which was a first for us. This is a weird one because this is a place that's actually fairly common in Canada, but we just never go. It's not that we have anything against the place, it's just that all of the 5 Guys locations near my house in Canada are in places where I have other restaurants that I love. If we're in those areas, it means we're going to those restaurants, and we never really try anything new.

That might change after this visit as the burgers and fries were pretty good. I also like the idea of getting peanuts before a meal.

We didn't just eat western food on this excursion, we also managed to sample a really famous and very tasty Pakistani restaurant. It was nice to go to a Pakistani restaurant since there really aren't that many around. Having lived in Pakistan for a few years it was some wonderful and familiar flavours.

While the food was great, the real highlight was the fact that they also sold custom Adidas... sort of. Apparently they may or may not be authentic, but I have my suspicions.

While we did eat a lot of foreign foods, we also managed to enjoy a few iftar dinners as well (since it was Ramadan). Iftar dinners are one of my favourite meals since they're often buffets and they also often have foods I've never tried before. The format allows for a great sampling of new and fun foods including amazing desserts.

You also can't go wrong when you start a meal with a delicious date.

The candy scene in the UAE hasn't changed much over the years. Plenty of over the top candy stores, lots of imports, but only a few treats that you could really call local. I can't say that I completely hate the fact that most of the treats in the UAE are imports as it's a great place to take a look at the popular treats from all over the world. It also lets you really see how exotic western treats actually are.

The candy and desserts you could call local are also always presented in a big way, with lots of pageantry. 

I do however admire their very modern candy machines found all over the place. Video screens make for a much flashier and fun place to buy snacks.

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Hey Everybody, It's A New Episode Of Junk Fud On The Road!

In this episode Chris and Allison talk about the very strange and very amazing country of the United Arab Emirates. It's a place that offers just about everything you might want when it comes to snacking, even Tim Horton's.

Click here to check out our past episodes of Junk Fud On The Road.

And make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook as well.

If you want an early preview of all our podcasts and videos make sure to follow us on Patreon.

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Another Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!! On The Road

This is our last episode of Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!! from our trip to India (and eventually Dubai).  This one was a bit of a surprise, and it took two parts to get it right.

Click here to check out past episodes of Chris, Why Would You Eat That?!!

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Candy In The Media

On my way home from Europe, I had a stop in Dubai.  While in Dubai I stopped at a candy store, it was a massive candy store with treats from all over the world.  I'm pretty sure I'll be writing about this store in the future.  While at this candy store I was offered a foreign (at least to the local Emirates) treat, an Almond Joy.  They gave me a piece and then went on to explain the bar to me, like I'd never heard of it before.  After describing the Almond Joy, the girl then went on to describe the Mounds Bar to me, just in case I didn't want the almond.  The conversation then went as follows:

Girl in store:  The Almond Joy has an almond in it, and the Mounds Bar does not.

Me: Cause sometimes you feel like a nut, and sometimes you don't.

Girl in store: *Blank stare*

Me: *Walk away awkwardly*

This just proves that some cultural references don't cross all borders.

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You Say Hello, And I Say Dubai...

After spending 4 days in Dubai, I can say one thing for sure, Dubai is a really strange place.  It's not strange in the regular ways things are strange, it's not creepy strange like Las Vegas, or it's not scary strange like Halloween.  Dubai on the surface is a very nice place, in fact it's one of the cleanest most beautiful cities I've ever seen in my entire life.  The thing that makes it strange is all about cultural geography, or lack there of.  Dubai is the kind of city that really has no culture of it's own to speak of.  Traditionally it's simply a small village in the middle of the desert, but with the amount of money that's been thrown into building massive buildings and malls, it could also be almost any place in the world as well.  A good way to understand how this city is different is to look at the snacks, food and candy of Dubai.

The one thing that strikes you about Dubai when you're shopping for food or eating at a restaurant is the huge selection.  The selection of foods in Dubai aren't unfamiliar to most westerners either.  Restaurants such as The Cheesecake Factory, Tony Romas, and Olive Garden can be found just about anywhere.  Even Canadian chains like Tim Horton's and Eggspectations can be found in Dubai.  If you're traveling from just about any corner of the globe, you'll find a bit of home in this city.  This also extends to candy as well, at the grocery stores I visited I found plenty of Hershey's, Cadbury, and Nestle chocolate.  I also found just about every brand of gummy and hard candy. I felt like a kid in a candy store, literally.  There was one thing however that I really had to hunt for, local foods.

 If you want to taste a bit of the true UAE culture, Dubai may not be the best place to visit.  The foreign chains have all but eliminated the local cuisine from the tourist path. There are a few restaurants that seem local in the old section of town, but its hard to tell.  The main parts of the city, the malls and giant buildings, have no restaurants that clearly show off UAE cuisine.  The only time I can say that I was pretty sure I ate something close to traditional food is when I took a desert safari.  At this safari we ate food that seemed pretty close to what you would expect for this part of the world.  Things like eggplant dips, cooked meats, curries, and flat breads.  I'm not convinced that this food was 100% authentic, since it's geared towards tourists, but the theme seemed fairly close.

The only other oddity about the food is the strict rules regarding food.  For the most part gum is not encouraged, or completely banned from indoor facilities.  You can't ride a subway or walk through a mall blowing bubbles. Food and drinking is also banned on their public transportation system as well.  While these rules may seems harsh, the results can't be argued.  The city is one of the cleanest I've ever seen.

The other strange rule regarding food, for westerners at least, is the lack of bacon.  This is a Muslim country and according to the Muslim religion pork is a no-no. They do compensate with beef and turkey bacon (I didn't see any chicken bacon, strange no?), as well as other beef replacements.  The good thing is the quality of the beef and other meats is fantastic (although it's expensive) so you don't really find yourself missing too much. And if you're really craving some pork, some grocery stores to sell it. 

Dubai is really a great city, it has just about anything you might want to eat, except maybe something local.  While I did miss the local food, I was very well distracted with all of the huge selection of North American and western restaurants and foods.  Candy wise I found a few interesting things that I probably can't get in many other cities, like camel milk chocolate and awesome chocolate covered dates, but I really had to search for them. I did however find some classic bars that I haven't had in a while, so I left a happy boy.

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This Week In Candy

As you read this post I'm presently somewhere in Dubai.  I'm not sure where, but hopefully I've managed to post a few pictures of some of the treats I've discovered and keep any sand out of my ice cream.  So what does this mean for things at candycritic.org this week?  Well the new review is going to be a little bit delayed.  I should be back soon, and I'll try and post it as soon as I get back.  Also next week I'll be sure to post something about this trip, as I'm sure Dubai has some fun and tasty sweet treats.

If my internet connection holds out, then the Snack Facts posts should be going up as usual.  This week we're looking at chocolate, a topic near to my heart right now since I'm presently working on a book about the history of chocolate.  I've decided to share a few quick facts that I've picked up researching this book.  As always you can follow Snack Facts on Instagram, and if you don't do Instagram you can also see the posts on our Twitter or Facebook feeds.

Our other posts this week will all be about Christmas/the Holidays, because it's one of the best times of year to talk about food.  Candy, and snacks have been an important part of my holiday seasons, and I'm always excited to see what the big red man has left me to munch on.  In our Cool Candy Things post I'm continuing to post about awesome gingerbread things.  For Candy In The Media all this month I'm looking at famous Christmas songs that feature candy or sweet treats.

Sorry no new review today, but I'll let you know when it's up later this week.

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Chocolate Factory Tours In Dubai

Candy factories aren't just limited to countries in Europe and North America.  All over the world people are creating treats and many of these companies are offering tours to watch them make these treats.  I came across this article about a chocolate maker in Dubai that offers tours of their chocolate making facility.

Click here to read about the tour.

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Hershey's In Dubai!

Hershey has just opened a store in Dubai, and they plan to open more. Now I'm not sure how Hershey's chocolate holds up in the warm Middle Eastern sun, so you might want to eat your chocolate quick.

Click here to read more about the new store.

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