Chef Nouel Catis helped create Dubai Chocolate.
Filipino chef Nouel Catis is back with a new creation inspired by the viral Dubai Chocolate sensation. Abu Dhabi Chocolate is a new flavour that combines salted caramel and halwa. Appealing to all generations, it aims to capture the capital’s distinct cultural flavour palette.
His aim is for his new treat to taste exactly like home for Emiratis – from the very first bite. The dessert focuses on culture, follows contemporary trends, and stays true to the UAE at its core. The new bar is Catis’ way of giving back to Abu Dhabi. Plus, he hopes to honour the emirate as the source of his current success.
The Abu Dhabi Chocolate took a year to perfect. The final flavour features a mix of spices including cardamom and saffron. Plus, flavours such as tahini and date syrup.
The chocolate also contains additional hints of balaleet – the sweet-and-savoury traditional Emirati breakfast dish. The chef encases all these elements in a thick, salted caramel bar sprinkled with 24-carat gold flakes. The Abu Dhabi Chocolate is part of a series of city-themed treats. Catis has been releasing these through his brand, Sna’ap.
Catis worked as an in-flight chef for Etihad Airways. In 2018, he launched his own culinary consulting company in Dubai. Fix Chocolatier entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda enlisted him to bring her idea of the Dubai Chocolate Bar to life – and eventually to fame.
Catis said: “The older generation will relate to the flavours, but the chocolate-salted caramel casing also makes it relevant to the younger generation. I want this to be not only for a certain generation, but celebrated by all ages, especially Emiratis. When you take a bite, it’s like you’re sitting in a coffee shop in the afternoon, with a dallah coffee pot in one hand and a piece of halwa in the other. That’s the kind of feeling I want to evoke with this chocolate bar.”
Abu Dhabi Chocolate will be priced at AED 100. The bar is available from 14 November, and sold at Rain Cafe.
GO: Visit https://rainuae.ae for more information.