(JNS) – For $29.99, Oh! Nuts sells a kosher, pareve “Dubai chocolate bar,” a “luxurious confection that blends rich tradition with modern indulgence.” Two North Miami Beach sellers, Sweet Tooth and Le Chocolatier, hawk kosher Dubai chocolate, for $12 to $89 and for $20 respectively. Seasons Kosher, with multiple New York locations, sells a cholov Yisroel Dubai chocolate ($19.99) with multiple kosher certifications.

“Joining the Dubai chocolate bar fever is not difficult,” gushed the Orthodox Union Kosher Certification Service’s blog.

What began as a TikTok non-kosher phenomenon—chocolate filled with pistachio and knafeh, essentially shredded filo dough—in 2021 has found its way into the Jewish world. But David Meubauei, owner of the kosher, Brooklyn-based ice-cream shop Boozery, which he opened in 2019, thinks that the Jewish take on the trend, despite its Emirati name, has nothing to do with the Abraham Accords.

“I don’t think the Abraham Accords had anything to do with it,” Meubauei told JNS. (Boozery calls its Dubai chocolate, which costs $10, a “delightful blend of creamy and textured bites.”)

Meubauei began offering Dubai chocolate in June 2024, “well ahead for the Jewish market,” he said. “I started when it was going viral in the non-Jewish world, and most Jews didn’t know what it was.”

The Dubai-based Fix Dessert Chocolatier debuted the treat, inspired by traditional Arabic sweets. Originally called Can’t Get Knafeh of It, it spread on social media, particularly TikTok. The rebranded “Dubai chocolate” took off in 2024.

“I thought the trend would die within a month or two. I’ve worked with viral food trends before, like the Starbucks unicorn drink, and those never lasted long,” Meubauei told JNS. “But Dubai chocolate is still pumping. People are ordering crazy numbers for Purim.”

Jewish consumers have embraced Dubai chocolate because of its familiar flavors, according to Meubauei.

“The funny thing is, Jews don’t do well with unfamiliar flavors. They like what they like,” he said. “The ingredients in Dubai chocolate, like pistachio and knafeh, are flavors that Persian and Syrian Jews already know from baklava and other Middle Eastern desserts. It fits nicely within the Jewish community.”

Isabel Garcia Nevett, co-owner of Garcia Nevett Chocolatier de Miami, told JNS that when Dubai chocolate “became so viral, at the beginning we were like, we don’t understand what is going on.” (The non-kosher shop sells a $16 Dubai dark chocolate bar, which it calls “a true delight for the senses.”)

“We felt the effects of the TikTok viral phenomenon because of a hot chocolate post, and then suddenly, people were calling us asking if we sold the Dubai bars,” she said. (The initial post that went viral was about hot chocolate.)

Initially hesitant, Garcia Nevett and her sister Susana Garcia Nevett eventually gave in. “It’s a bit like cheating and copying but it became so popular,” Isabel Garcia Nevett said.

She thinks the Dubai chocolate craze is about belonging, in addition to taste.

“People want to be part of this trend,” she said. “Maybe they don’t even like it, but they see it as a social media moment. My niece, who is 10 or 11, was so excited because we had the Dubai bar. It’s that sense of community.”

The phenomenon took off to such an extent that major chocolatiers like Lindt and Godiva began offering Dubai chocolate.

Meubauei is skeptical about how much longer the trend will last.

“I’m definitely looking for the next viral thing, but right now, people love that I’m making these trends kosher,” he said.

“Pistachio has been a trendy ingredient for the past few years and now it’s collided with this viral moment,” Garcia Nevett said. “It’s yummy, but not that good. The real appeal is being part of the experience.”