Encased in chocolate, blended into martinis, baked in a croissant – tasty, maybe, but let’s not kid ourselves about the health benefits

On my desk as I write this I have a packet of shelled, unsalted pistachios, a snack about which I have no particular feelings beyond the fact they’re better for me than Hula Hoops and, like so many things I’ve been persuaded to buy by my doctor, can be integrated into a “heart healthy diet”. Pistachios are also, it turns out, having a moment. We’ve been here before, with pomegranates and acai and, a few years ago, bone broth and anchovies. Now it’s the turn of the upmarket green peanut (oh look, I do have an opinion), which, once you start noticing it, you’ll find appears to be everywhere.

It started last year with the rise of what is informally known as Dubai chocolate, the so-called confectionery invented by the British-Egyptian entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda, that took over the world – and that became, according to Deliveroo, one of last year’s top items ordered worldwide. If you haven’t encountered it, the Can’t Get Knafeh Of It chocolate bar is a fancy slab of milk chocolate stuffed with a mixture of shredded filo, date syrup and pistachio cream, which tastes like a blocked artery and looks like wet tobacco. The original bar – the market is teeming with knock-offs – costs about £15.99, and if you can finish it in one sitting I raise my cholesterol to you.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist