Mortar And Pestle

I call it a pestle & mortar. To me it sounds odd the other way round. I do have one but use it rarely. Mine is a heavy marble thing (or is it granite?). I really only use it to smash seeds in pods. Otherwise I use a spice grinder.
 
The molcajete we have is made from lava rock and can be heated to cook in such as a dish called "Molcajete Frito". When buying one, if you plan to cook in it, make sure it is for that purpose and not a decorative one. Like Tajines, some are just decorative or for serving and not meant for cooking. Then you have the Pilon, for mashing the plantains and seasoning for the base of a mofongo.
 
41963


Here's mine!
 
Mines like shermies pic, tried using it, it's too slow, the coffee grinder is 5 times quicker. I hate wasting time, my mortar and pestle is at the back of the cupboard somewhere. I should pass it on to someone???
I'm never using it again. I'm on my second grinder in 20 years? Used for Garam masala.

Russ
 
Yorky said:
I didn't know what a "pilon" was so I looked it up. Apparently it's a Cuban dance or the French word for pestle. So yes.
Click to expand...
It is also the vessel used for smashing plantains for mofongo, a Puerto Rican dish.
 
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mortar and pestle.jpg

It's a soapstone, and is actually a darker green than it appears in this photo I do use it, but not frequently. Probably most recently used to muddle mint for mojitos back in 2019, but I've also used it to break up peanuts for Pad Thai. Normally it sits atop the fridge for decorative purposes.

I have three coffee grinders - one for coffee, one for spices, and one for grinding chick starter feed for baby quail.
 
Someone gifted me four bags of seasoned/flavored salts (Tuscan salt, Mediterranean salt, smoked salt, and truffle salt) and the flakes are too big for my liking, so I break it up as I need it in the mortar.

I have a cheap $10 spice grinder, the cover is plastic. It whips the spices around so fast that it's pitted the plastic, the spice has become embedded in it, and now, anything I grind in it smells like that spice.
 
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