Forget Dubai Chocolate — This Underrated Treat Deserves The Spotlight

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Dubai chocolate is a worldwide craze. You can find Dubai chocolate bars in the U.S., though the treat has also transformed into all kinds of creative takes, from Dubai chocolate-inspired brownies to ice cream flavors. However, there is one much more underrated treat that will have you skipping the Dubai chocolate bar, and it's called Angel Hair. To get an explaination on why you should forget Dubai chocolate for this treat, Tasting Table spoke to Beth Kimmerle, the author of "Chocolate: The Sweet History" and "Candy: The Sweet History," and founder and CEO of Attribute Analytics.

Kimmerle applauds the creativity that Dubai chocolate has inspired, but thinks that "Angel Hair takes the Dubai idea in a really fun direction." This bar has a similar chocolate shell that's filled with pistachio cream, but instead of kataifi or shredded phyllo, there is pişmaniye (aka Turkish cotton candy) inside, plus added fruity and floral notes. Unlike American cotton candy, which is spun sugar, pişmaniye is made by spinning toasted wheat flour and butter with sugar to create hair-thin strands with a nutty, sweet taste and a similar melt-in-your-mouth texture to cotton candy. 

According to Kimmerle, "the key lesson of Dubai chocolate is that taste wasn't the whole story. Texture played a huge role." Angel Hair offers a unique textural experience that contrasts pişmaniye's delicate crunch with smooth pistachio cream and a crisp chocolate shell, which Kimerle says, "moves through several, very different, texture territories."

Turkish Angel Hair may not be as virally popular as Dubai chocolate or other desserts like Turkish delights or baklava yet, but it's certainly headed in that direction. It was actually invented by Belgian chocolatier Tucho. Needless to say, Beth Kimmerle recommends going to Tucho's online shop to buy its White Chocolate Angel Hair if you want a store-bought bar. It has pişmaniye and pistachio cream, but also notes of pomegranate and raspberry. However, you can find other Angel Hair chocolate bars on Amazon, like this one from Fiorella, which is actually stuffed with a strawberry and pistachio filling along with Turkish cotton candy.

One thing that Dubai chocolate has going for it, says Kimmerle is that "it sprung from someone's kitchen, there was never a 'standard of identity,' and so it's allowed this concept of 'Dubai Chocolate' ... to shape shift or transcend into a lot of sweets, desserts, and even cocktails." You can similarly make your own Angel Hair at home and take its core ingredients to give other desserts a spin. Buy a jar of pistachio cream, any chocolate you like, and pick up pişmaniye from a Middle Eastern bakery to get going. For that matter, we've got plenty of other Turkish desserts for you to try at home as well, from a Turkish yogurt cake to a sweet dessert made with chicken breast!