.

.
.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

ABC Wednesday: Mortar and Pestle



http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/
ABC Wednesday is hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt
In South East Asia homes, almost every home has a set of mortar and pestle to crush, grind, and mix solid substances (trituration). The pestle is a heavy bat-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, marble, clay, or stone. The substance to be ground is placed in the mortar and ground, crushed or mixed with the pestle.

My mum used them a lot in pounding her shallots, garlic and ginger and chillis. In quarter acre houses, the "TUN TUN TUN" don't sound irritating, but in High Rise Apartments in Singapore, the sound can be transmitted and is often a source of neighbouring quarrels.

I was given a small set by my Sri Lankan friend, but because I do not use it a lot, I didn't not bring it to New Zealand. Which is a pity, as I see it used in many cooking shows.

This one belongs to my brother Charles in Australia.

25 comments:

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...

What a great ideas mortar and pestle. I've never used a mortar and pestle, It seems to messy. Are they hard to clean up?

rainfield61 said...

You must keep it. It soon will become an antique.

Ah Ngao said...

when i use this ,im good becoz i rarely or very seldom hit the marble when pounding the mixture of lemon grass,onions or garlic for curry

George said...

My late wife's mother used a mortar and pestle to crush garlic.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

I have seen a mortar and pestle --but have never used one... Thanks for sharing on ABC Wednesday, Ann.
Hugs,
Betsy

Ginny Hartzler said...

This one is very pretyy, but I would use it for decoration only! My arm would get to tired and achy. Do you use a food processor or chopper?

Strummed Words said...

I'm familiar with that mortar and pestle. We have one here in the U.S., imported from Southeast Asia. Here's my M.

photowannabe said...

I have never used one ether. I'm not that great a cook. It really looks neat though. I can imagine it could be a bit noisy and annoying to listen too.

Hildred said...

The mortar and pestle have a certain charm to them, probably because of their association with herbs and exotic cooking. I had a mortar and pestle at one time, and it may still be packed in a box somewhere, but not on the kitchen counter anymore (sigh)

Roger Owen Green said...

suddenly I'm feeling all pharmaceutical

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Verna Luga said...

A kitchen must have ... nice one Ann..

Have a nice time! My ABC Wednesday Here

Sylvia K said...

Great post for the M Day and I love the mortar and pestle! Hang on to those!! Hope your week is going well, Ann! Enjoy!

Sylvia

dianasfaria.com said...

Such a coincidence! - I just read today that a mortar & pestle is the best way to extract flavor from foods when cooking!

January Zelene said...

mortar and pestle is a very useful set of kitchen equipment.

ABC: Man at Work

Tumblewords: said...

I'm not much of a cook but I've always been fascinated by the mortar and pestle!

Nanka said...

Still do find them, very commonly used here in the Kitchen. Very handy indeed at times. I'm sure it won;t be pushed into the realms of antiquity here.

Kay L. Davies said...

Pharmacists used to use them, too. In fact, I believe a picture of a mortar and pestle used to show that a pharmacist, or, before that, an apothecary had a shop at a certain location.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PharmacistsMortar.svg

Interesting post, Ann. It got me thinking, and that's a very good thing when the brain is on the verge of fading away. ;~)

Kay, Alberta

Reader Wil said...

I use my mortar and pestle occasionally when I cook Indonesian food. In Indonesia we called it an "Ulak"( I don't know if the spelling is right.
You asked if we camped every holiday! Yes, we loved it. It was cheap and we were free to choose a place. Besides the last 25 years we had a trailertent, which was very comfortable with 2 double beds, a table and benches around the table. When we arrived at a campsite we could put up the tent on the trailer in 10 minutes. The beds were then already made. It was easy when we were on our way to sit in it and have a meal or coffee. It was beautiful!

Gigi Ann said...

I've never used a Mortar and Pestle, but it sounds very useful in the kitchen. Nice choice for M day.

Cezar and Léia said...

HEllo dear Ann,
Thanks for teaching me about the name of these stuffs!
Cool idea, I think I need to buy them to prepare sausage!
Hugs
Léia

Carver said...

Great idea for the letter M. I have one that looks a lot like the one in your shot but mine is a lighter stone.

MaR said...

It is used for garlic in Spain ;)
Interesting take on the theme!!
M is for me...

Kim, USA said...

That's what I like to pound with my garlic hehe!
ABC Wednesday

Joy said...

I wouldn't be without my mortar and pestle, something quite satisfying about using one, prefer it to the cooking:-)

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

love these, cute and fun to work on...