Following the massive and sudden hype around Dubai chocolate in Switzerland and around the world, one cheesemaker has decided to put a very Swiss spin on the viral trend. In the lead-up to the holidays, a cheese dairy from Obwalden will be selling a “Dubai” version of raclette.
Speaking to Blick, the Seiler cheese dairy in Giswil, Canton Obwalden confirmed that it has launched a range of Dubai Raclette. The product will be available at their shop in Giswil, at the Molki in Meiringen as well as on the internet through their website.
To create the cheese, a hole is drilled into the raclette, which is replaced by a sweet pistachio filling. Seiler cheese factory director Noemi Decurtins told Blick that the idea was “a bold interpretation” of the classic Swiss cheese.
"We were inspired by the hype surrounding Dubai chocolate," she explained. Ever since the chocolate first went viral in late 2023 and early 2024, people have scrambled to try the sweet treat. In November, people queued around the block at the Lindt Factory in Canton Zurich to get a piece of the pistachio and knafeh-filled delight.
"With the Dubai trend, it's now or never," Decurtins noted, adding that Dubai Raclette went from a pie-in-the-sky idea to reality in just one week. Though some raclette purists may baulk at the idea, she noted that “many are happy about the innovative idea…They enjoy the combination of pistachio and cheese."
Want to see if the cheese lives up to the hype? You better be fast as only 200 loaves have been made to sell in the lead-up to Christmas. It’s set to be a pricy experiment too, with the Dubai Raclette retailing at 49 francs per kilo, more than double the price of regular raclette.