DUBAI: Single-origin chocolate, local coffee and organic dates are combined with saffron, cardamom and crispy kunafa in Bateel’s distinctly Saudi Arabia answer to the global viral sensation, Dubai Chocolate.
The brand has launched two new products — a Riyadh Style Chocolate bar and a date chocolate product. Both feature dates picked at Bateel’s farms in the Al-Ghat region of Saudi Arabia.
“In our Riyadh Style Chocolate, dates add natural sweetness, richness, and a deep caramel note that complements saffron, cardamom, and chocolate beautifully,” chef Bernard Charles, senior director – gourmet and confectionery at Bateel, told Arab News recently.
“They also connect the product to the Kingdom’s agricultural heritage since dates are one of Saudi Arabia’s most iconic and culturally significant foods.”
But it would not be quintessentially Saudi without a drop of qahwa, or coffee, the significance of which is deeply ingrained in the Kingdom’s cultural fabric, so much so that the country’s Ministry of Culture deemed 2022 the Year of Saudi Coffee.
“In the Kingdom, serving qahwa is a ritual of welcome and generosity, so incorporating its flavor gives the chocolate a distinctly Saudi character and evokes the experience of gathering and sharing,” Charles explained.
“We wanted the Riyadh Style Chocolate to reflect the true flavors of Saudi heritage — qahwa, saffron, cardamom, and dates — without allowing any one ingredient to overpower the others.
“Another major challenge was integrating these traditional flavors into chocolate while preserving texture and shelf stability,” the chef explained of the challenges involved in bringing the two products to the market.
The new Riyadh Style Chocolate bar comes after Dubai-based Fix Dessert Chocolatier went viral across the globe for its Dubai chocolate bar, a gooey and crunchy candy stuffed with crispy knafeh and a creamy pistachio spread.
