I have a new obsession. I asked another foodie for a recommendation of where I could get rose essence for my macaroon experiment, and he looked at me like I had asked him where I could get trans fats in a can. "Kalustyan's... duh."
So I set off on a lunch hour excursion to curry hill, yet another fascinating New York micro-neighborhood. Most of the restaurants in those few blocks are Indian--this I knew--but I had never seen the fantastic spice markets and specialty food stores tucked on second floors and garden levels, and in one case, behind a suspicious sign for cell phones and massages. Kalustyan's is sort of the gold standard of these-- bigger, cleaner, and fit for yuppie consumption (read: most product names are in English). I have a feeling every foodie in the city knows about this place, but why we don't talk about it every day is beyond me.
I walked in with my macaroon recipes printed out and roughly translated to English (one exception: my rose macaroon recipe called for "tant pour tant", and while tempted to make naughty assumptions about what that means, I actually have no idea.). Anyway, so I walk in, and my jaw drops. This place is PACKED with stuff-- most of it that you never thought existed or that you could get in bulk. More spices than I have ever seen, most packaged there. I counted nine types of Ghee, about a bjillion kinds of rice and legumes in bulk, PLUS super yummy looking fresh indian food for sale upstairs. I am never bringing my lunch to work again.
But of course, I was on a mission. I spent about 20 minutes getting lost in the "sugars and jaggery" section (not kidding) and contemplating the uses of "Kolhapuri Jaggery, Natural Palm Sugar, Rectangle" (couldn't come up with any). This experiment ended in an extended, gestural argument with a 200 year old toothless Indian woman about the differences between Sel de Guerande and Fleur de Sel. I totally won this tiff with this little zinger:
"Excusez-moi, mon friere, but I think I know my Camargue from my Guerande! Hmph!" (turn and stomp away)
Feeling vindicated, I bought all sorts of exotic goods, including:
pistachio paste
rose syrup
almond meal
2 kinds of loose tea (since when do I drink tea??)
Three vanilla beans for $11.99 (suck it, whole foods!!)
semi-sketchy feta from a bin
approximately 35 pounds of nuts to keep at work
As an added perk, I got to give a pretty tough tongue lashing to a kid who was sneaking chocolate covered almonds out of a bin. I mean, who wants grubby little fingers in there? At least steal with a spoon, you little shiznit! I think the 200 year old Indian woman kind of likes me now for telling him off the way she wished she could.
I was so excited about my purchases, I didnt care at all that I spent just under 100 bucks for exotic goods I dont need. This is worse than having an Anthropologie around the corner.
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