When Omar Sartawi, an unorthodox Jordanian chef, advertised his first Jameed Chocolate, round, white truffles with the salty taste of dried yogurt, many Jordanians thought he was joking.

Sartawi, with his partner Nadine Othman at White Design House, posted the chocolates on social media in January and the photos immediately went viral with reactions ranging from surprise to praise. “An absolutely distinctive combination that I love,” wrote Lina Asms.

Samer Abuqaoud, a young Jordanian, could only bring himself to taste the jameed-flavored chocolate with his eyes shut. As far as he was concerned, jameed, the salty dried yogurt made from goat’s milk, complemented not chocolates but the popular Jordanian dish mansaf, which is a mixture of lamb, bread and rice and is served on social occasions.

Undeterred by the sceptics, Sartawi told Al-Monitor, “We were thinking about developing Arab and Jordanian dishes, and that is how it all started. I consider myself lucky because I am part of a culture that has a diversified cuisine with the tastiest food in the world. I wanted to create a different perspective of our food. So I went with the jameed-flavored white chocolate idea. We took one of the [special tastes] in Jordanian gastronomic culture, jameed, and aimed to make it a dessert that can [become popular] in the West.”