Mortar and Pestle

Posted by Mario Bosquez

Cooking at my house is a real grind. But that's a good thing!

We just celebrated collecting week here at Martha Stewart Living Radio (Sirius channel 112), so I wanted to show you my collection of mortars and pestles.

The first one is small and lightweight. It's perfect for carrying around the kitchen and for small amounts of spices. The bowl fits in the palm of my hand and is easy to control.

The mortar and pestle in the center is heavyweight and beautiful to look at. It's from the American Masala Collection by Suvir Saran of Devi Restaurant in New York City. This mortar and pestle is perfect for large amounts of spices -- its substantial weight does a good job of crushing peppercorns.

The next mortar and pestle is called a Molcajete in Spanish and has special significance. It belonged to my mother and for many years she used this Molcajete to prepare her delicious Tex-Mex dishes. Using it brings back fond, loving memories of my mother.

Here is a tip when working with a molcajete: To release all the essences of the spices, pour a little warm water into it and pour the spices and liquid into the skillet with the rest of the ingredients. When it is empty, pour a little more warm water, swirl it around and pour that liquid in as well.

It's also a good idea to have several sizes of mortars and pestles depending upon the cooking job at hand. Also, they make a beautiful display when not in use! Do you own a mortar and pestle, too? 

Comments

[Petale Juliet]

How can I find the unique Martha Stewart mortar & pestle which has been discontinued by Macy's? It's design was excellent. It was just the right size to easily incorporate many ingredients without a mess, in her beautiful signature aqua color, very easy to clean, does not retain the flavors of the last items crushed, and just the right weight to be stable and yet easy to transport. Will it be brought back into production? In short it solves all of the problems I have experienced with my collection of several indigenous M & P's. Thanks.

[Linette L. Radcliff]

I have a granite stone mortar pestle set - it will never wear out or break and it crushes everything with no effort as the pestle is made of heavy stone (and so does not retain any odors either). I have the medium sized set and it is all you'll ever need and it is very beautiful on the counter top! I bought it at: www.templeofthai.com/mortar_and_pestle/mortar_pestle.php

[samantha ruins]

i'm doing a project for cultural history night! i'm doing it on the mortar and pestle. ROCKIN!

[Maryann Cannon]

You can find the American Masala set at Colorful Dishes.