Mortar and Pestle
Mortar and pestle are tools designed for grinding, crushing or mixing solid substances. The mortar is a small, heavy bowl which is usually made from either a ceramic, wood or stone. The pestle is a heavy bat-shaped with a rounded bottom. In order to use, the substance must be placed into the mortar and use the pestle to grind or crush the solid particles in the bowl with downward pressure or circular motion. The process repeats until all the substances are pulverized.
Before, mortar and pestle were used for medicinal practice where traditional medicines and herbs are being ingested by the patient. But though there have been various modification in the field of medicine in today’s modern world, there are still some people use them to grind herbs for treating other ailments, especially those people who live in rural areas, or far away from the city.
Another popular use of these tools is to grind or crush various spices and other ingredients used for cooking. Although the use of knife is much more popular to chop and pulverize some of the ingredients, still, there’s something about the mortar and pestle that makes every dish much flavorful and delicious. Grinding and pressing the substances with pestle and mortar, the flavor of the ingredients are released; making every meal prepared contains aromatic essence and exotic taste. Some of the popular Mexican dishes that are prepared by these tools are guacamole and salsa. Other chefs from other countries also utilized these kitchen tools for grinding some ingredients and for making paste and sauces. In Middle East, the pestle and mortar are used to grind various meats.
Today, there have been various modern products offered in the market that simplifies the grinding and crushing process to prepare meals in lesser time. However, some people still prepare the use of this old-fashioned style of grinding as they tend to release more of the oils and flavors of the substances that makes every dish more flavorful and tasty. The pestle and mortar don’t actually use much pressure unlike to what food processors do, so the aromas don’t burn off when grinding. This advantage is preferred by most professional cooks although it requires more time and effort when preparing. After all, cooks are much more concerned about the resulting taste of their dishes rather than the effort and time they spend when cooking.
But aside from kitchen use, mortars and pestles are also used in laboratories for mixing and grinding some chemicals needed for some tests and experiments.
Mortars and pestles come in various sizes and made from different materials. When shopping for one, it is important that you consider the size of the item you would need for your kitchen. If you only prepare small meals often and needs to crush or grind few ingredients, then opt for smaller sizes. This will give you the benefit of storing them even in small spaces in your kitchen. But if you always prepare larger meals, then you may want to have the models that can hold the amount of ingredients you need to pulverize. After determining the right size, you must also consider the type of material where they are made of. As much as possible, you would like to have a mortar and pestle that cannot be easily broken when too much force or pressure is applied to them.
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