From Guest Blogger Umit Celebi, who also took these photos:

An article I recently read about the World’s Fair in Shanghai quoted Prince Albert describing the inspiration behind the 1851 Great Exhibition in London as “that great end – to which all history points – the realization of the unity of mankind.” There are many ways to work towards that great end, and off the top of my head I can think of two endeavors right here in Manhattan, both in their seventh decade of being, that serve as exemplars of our shared existence. Perhaps the most obvious is the United Nations Headquarters and then, just 14 blocks to its south, there is Kalustyan’s.

At its current Manhattan location since1944, Kalustyan’s is something akin to a global pantry. On display are some of the world’s most distinctive food products. Though there are many items here ready to eat -- hard-to-find cheeses from the Balkans and Middle East such as sheep’s milk Kasseri; sweets, including pişmaniye, the appetizingly addictive candy floss from my father’s hometown in Turkey; and a stellar selection of nuts in bulk -- the focus at Kalustyan’s is on raw materials like beans, lentils and grains, plus the herbs, spices and oils with which to cook them.

So why make the trip to 123 Lexington Avenue between 28th and 29th Streets when there are beans, international olive oils and spices at any supermarket?

Simply put, it’s the siren song of a dish transformed, a meal transcended – the prospect of a culinary breakthrough. The unrivalled variety, the breadth of what’s offered here stirs something inside you – you feel a keener kinship with your fellow man. The shelves appear like a re-imagined map of the world with no borders, the only frontiers being your fears of cooking or eating something for the first time: date sugar, damson plum preserves, wild hibiscus flowers in syrup, crab paste, pomegranate molasses, coffee blossom honey, white soy sauce, or porcini orzo.

Right up front are no fewer than six shelves of assorted bottled bitters. Further down the aisle is a sizzling selection of hot sauces from the Delta states and Mexico; and in the new added room on the left is what must be New York City’s predominant compilation of peppers, including the coveted Aleppo red flakes from Syria, Naga Jolokia from Bangladesh, (also called Ghost Chile Powder), “the world’s hottest chili” at 1,041,427 Scoville units; Indian Pondicherry whole peppercorns; and to name just one more of many, many others -- Dave's Insanity Spice, a blend of Red Savina habanero peppers and hot pepper extract with this warning: “Use this Product a Few Grains at a Time. Keep Away From Children. Not For People with Heart OR Respiratory Problems.”

If you need something to cool down with after all these peppers, venture all the way to the rear, where the refrigerator section offers saffron rose ice cream, homemade lebany yogurt and thick phyllo dough.

Kalustyan’s is also the place to pick up pickled baby eggplants, cassia flowers, lotus roots, chervils, and horse fennel. You’ll marvel at the extraordinary assortment of American honeys and the dizzying diversity of chutneys. And then there’s the sugar: kosher cubes from Finland; sugar from Bali, Indonesia, tapped from palm flower spikes and kettle boiled over an open hearth; light brown Muscovado from Mauritius; black Kuru Sato from Okinawa, Japan; and jaggery, the celebrated non-centrifugal unrefined whole cane sugar from India.

Here are some items that I keep coming back to -- and I’ll propose a meal out of these. Start snacking with that favorite Indian nosh, Hot Mix – a spicy melange of nuts, beans, raisins and seeds ($5.99 for 8 ounces). Begin with an appetizer of haydari, very easily prepared and served as a dip for pita bread, and made with Kalustyan’s own homemade lebany yogurt ($5.50 for a 16-ounce container).

Add dimension to a main dish of sautéed pork chops or chicken breasts with Sri Lankan ambarella chutney ($10.99 for a 16-ounce jar). Share that plate with Pakistani long-grain Basmati rice ($5.99 for a 14-ounce bag). And for dessert, test your restraint with a box the above-mentioned Turkish candy floss, pişmaniye, ($5.95 for a box of 250 grams). End the experience by taking your Irish coffee with turbinado-style vanilla sugar ($14.99 for a 7-ounce jar).

Orders can be placed over the phone or on Kalustyan’s extensive web site (www.kalustyans.com). But for those of you who can make to Kalustyan’s in person, it’s a unique experience. I hold nothing against our local supermarkets, (sometimes I’ll even amble around them, dreamily looking at the products), but usually I just rush to the nearest store, find exactly what I had in mind when I left the house, put it in my cart, and then sprint to the checkout.

Not so at Kalustyan’s. Here is a store within reach that’s competitively priced -- and anything and everything but ordinary. I often go to Kalustyan’s just to look around, exactly as if I were at a beloved museum or gallery, gazing elatedly at the objects on display and feeling grateful to whomever procured and curated this exquisite collection. This is a store as far-reaching as the world itself, and as enchanting as a snow globe. And it’s just one block from the 28th Street station on the 6 train. You gotta go.

Kalustyan’s
123 Lexington Avenue (between 28th and 29th Streets)
Tel. 212.685.3451
www.kalustyans.com
Mon – Sat 10am to 8pm
Sunday 11am to 7pm

Umit Celebi is an actor who has lived in neighborhoods all over Manhattan. He currently resides near Ground Zero with his wife, Kate, and their daughters, Ajda and Mavi. His blog, Eat Me in Manhattan!, appears periodically here on Kitchen Scoop.