The Exotic S.O.S. Chefs

April 14, 2011

Whenever my friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin, comes to my home to prepare a dinner party for me, he always brings the most incredible ingredients. He talks fondly of all the purveyors he frequents, especially Atef Boulaabi of S.O.S. Chefs, located on the lower east side of Manhattan. Atef had been working in sales when she realized, about fifteen years ago, that chefs and foodies really needed a go-to source for hard-to-find gourmet products. With a passion for travel and for the exotic, Atef found sources from all over the world who could provide the most interesting and esoteric ingredients. With that said, there is a story behind each product and Atef loves telling those stories to educate her customers. With my curiosity piqued, last weekend, I dropped into S.O.S. Chefs and was not disappointed. The shop’s inventory is very unusual and I was impressed with Atef’s enthusiasm for offering the best goods that she can possibly find. It’s little wonder that S.O.S. Chefs serves some of the most renowned restaurants and chefs in the world.

: There are also colorful individual serving tagines.

: A welcome sign from Morocco hangs inside the door.

: Atef finds the best quality foods possible. In the large walk-in refrigerater, she proudly showed these gorgeous morel mushrooms from Turkey.

: These amazing white asparagus just arrived from Holland.

: Maitake mushrooms from Japan – also called Hen-of-the-Woods, are wonderful for eating but are also valued for their many medicinal qualities, including new cancer studies.

: These porcini mushrooms, known as the king of mushrooms for their intense flavor and meaty texture, were imported from South Africa.

: This is the packing area of the store with another shipment being prepared.

: And these ramps, or wild leeks, were flown in from the Pacific northwest, where they are currently in season.

: Atef opened a tin of fragrant fennel pollen, which she says really enhances simple fish recipes.

: And this equally fragrant dill pollen is wonderful with vegetables and red meat.

: Removing the lid from this jar released the highly perfumed aroma of orange blossoms. These are from Marrakesh and can only be collected for one week every year.

: The culinary spices at S.O.S. Chefs are from the finest batches coming from the place that produces that spice the best.

: These stone-ground grits are from Georgia.

: Healthy farro is gaining in popularity and is appearing more and more on menus.

: This cabinet contains vanilla products – extracts, powders, and syrups.

: These tender and intoxicating vanilla beans are grown in Madagascar.

: Atef shops for all sorts of curios, like fancy incense burners from Morocco.

: These are old cylinders that were once used to deliver rolled up hand-written letters. Chefs like to use them on place settings to hold dinner menus.

: Atef unfolded one to reveal a beautiful Kilim carpet of silk and linen woven in Tunisia.

: I was curious about these textiles.

: These make fabulous floor carpets, but they can also be used as table covers or to throw over sofas.

: Tea service and tea glasses from Morocco

: Truffle acacia-honey is excellent served with cheese.

: Glass cylinders filled with various spices

: A cabinet filled with glass and silver spice shakers

: These shelves contain herbal skin products that are made in the Atlas Mountains of northern Africa.

: Fleur de Sel, from off the coast of Brittany, is a hand-harvested sea salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom of large salt pans. Chefs love it for seasoning foie gras.

: Old apothecary bins hold other interesting ingredients.

: These are dried cumin flowers which, when pulled apart, are used as natural toothpicks.

: Star anise is used extensively in Asian cuisine.

: Dried turmeric – an ancient spice is commonly used as a dye and condiment and has numerous medicinal properties.

: Beautiful boxes made from burly olive wood

: Ornate tea pots from Morocco

: And great salad bowls, too!

: Dried nutty chick peas

: Chestnut flour, couscous, and basmati rice

: If you need a Moroccan tagine, this is the store!

: This is Himalayan pink salt, believed to be the purest form of salt available. It is pink because of high mineral and iron content.

: And a very ornate hand-hammered ceiling lamp

: Also in the walk-in are dried fruits and nuts from around the world.

: It was interesting to see a shipment going to Chef Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. I wonder what he ordered?