New Orleans business cooks up viral pistachio kunafa chocolate bar
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Looking for the viral pistachio kunafa chocolate bar? You're not alone, and now, a New Orleans-born business might have the very first one available for sale in U.S. stores.
Why it matters: Since videos of the pistachio kunafa chocolate bar from Dubai's FIX Dessert Chocolatier first appeared on TikTok, the site has racked up tens of millions of views from users trying it out — and attempting to copy the recipe.
The big picture: Many of the successful copycats ended up selling their bars on Etsy, but until now, it doesn't appear any ready-made, store-bought option has yet landed in the American market.
The intrigue: The team at Royal Roastery started thinking about how to make their own version about two weeks ago, store manager Husein Abdelghani tells Axios New Orleans.
- "We ordered all of the supplies for it, from the chocolate to the pistachio cream," Abdelghani says, and they got to work.
- It took some trial and error to nail down the recipe, which requires roasting kunafa dough in butter until it's crunchy and brittle, then combining that with pistachio cream while maintaining the kunafa's texture.
Zoom in: It's a natural fit for Royal Roastery to recreate the chocolate bar.
- The shop, which opened in Terrytown just outside New Orleans, in March 2020, is filled wall-to-wall with cases, jars and bins of Halal gummies, baklava, Arabic staples, chocolates, dried fruits and in-house roasted nuts and coffee.
- A Houston location followed in 2022.
Dig in: Abdelghani splits open a bar for me to try, and I can hear it crackle as he does so.
- I waste no time getting my hands on it.
- The milk chocolate immediately starts melting as soon as I do, and when I take a bite, the crunchy, buttery kunafa combines with the slightly-sweet pistachio cream that threatens to ooze out the sides of the cracked bar.
- It's decadent and rich, and I gratefully accept the small cup of coffee Abdelgani slides across the counter.
It didn't take long for the bar to become a Royal Roastery success.
- Last Thursday, when the business posted to Instagram that the bar was now available, a customer dropped into the Terrytown location shortly after to buy every single one available, Abdelghani says.
If you go: The kunafa pistachio chocolate bar is now available in both stores.
- It's priced at $4.99 per bar.
Editor's note: This story was updated with new pricing.