mortar-pestle-msg - 2/7/08
Period mortar and pestles. Sources for modern equivalents.
NOTE: See also the files: utensils-msg, strainers-msg, iron-pot-care-msg, ovens-msg, spoons-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: habura at bcbp18.bio.rpi.edu (Andrea Marie Habura)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: mortar and pestile
Date: 15 Feb 1996 17:47:36 GMT
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Finding mortars and pestles: By far the best sources in my neck of the
woods are Asian markets. I am the happy owner of a Japanese ceramic mortar
with ridges on the inside--the only tool I have that can reduce grains-
of-paradise to powder in nothing flat, *including* my coffee grinder--and
a big ol' Thai granite mortar, which is better for crushing soft spices
like coriander root. They are also very reasonably priced.
Alison MacDermot
*Ex Ungue Leonem*
From: manth at ozemail.com.au (Aramanth Dawe)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: alchemy questions
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 21:37:53 GMT
Organization: OzEmail Ltd - Australia
azdeg at imap1.asu.edu wrote:
>You can also usually find mortars and pestles at any herbalist shop (or
>organic food co-op).
I got mine as a wedding gift, but I know it was purchased from a local
Asian grocery store. It's a lovely, heavy stoneware one that is
wonderful to use.
Aramanth
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: shafer at spdcc.com (Mary Shafer)
Subject: Re: alchemy questions
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Date: Sun, 4 May 1997 05:43:49 GMT
Mortars and pestles are readily available in any of the good kitchen
supply catalogs, with A Cook's Wares being one of the less expensive
of the well-established ones. All those glossy catalogs with color
pictures don't come free, so it's not surprising that a company with a
very utilitarian catalog, printed in black on newsprint, will have
lower prices.
--
Mary Shafer DoD #0362 KotFR shafer at ursa-major.spdcc.com
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 18:28:35 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - The siege cook challenge.
S. Noss wrote:
> When you honored folks grind spices for all kinds of things and for
> mustard as below - what are you using to grind with? The old mortar and
> pestle or food processor?
>
> Shirley
A mortar and pestle is easier than it sounds, once you get used to it.
Failing that, go out and spend $20 (about what you'd probably pay for a
decent mortar and pestle, anyway) on two (2) electric coffee grinders.
Label one "Coffee". Label the other "Spices". Learn to clean them well.
They will be your friends. Those who don't drink coffee might need only
one.
Adamantius
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 23:15:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: Uduido at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - The siege cook challenge.
<< to grind with? The old mortar and pestle or food processor? >>
I use a mortar and pestle for small amounts (e.g. less than 1/4 cp). For
larger amounts I use a coffee grinder (translate>spice grinder). For messy
things in large amounts I use the food processor or blender.
For small amounts, I would recommend the mortar and pestle as the flavor and
texture have a pronounced difference in flavor to a trained palate than the
other methods used.
Lord Ras
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 14:54:50 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - Reducing feast fees and cleaning spice grinders
Adamantius sez:
>This little bit of wisdom is, I recall, the _very first_ thing mentioned
> by le Menagier de Paris in his section on cookery.
"Primo, in all sausages and thick pottages, wherein spices and bread be
brayed, you should first bray the spices and take them out of the mortar,
because the bread which you bray afterwards requires that which remaineth
from the spices; thus naught is lost that would be lost if 'twere done
otherwise."
Power, The Goodman of Paris, p. 223.
Cindy/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net
Date: Sun, 05 Dec 1999 11:54:04 -0600
From: helen <helen at directlink.net>
Subject: Re: mortars and pestles was SC - mustard recipes
> The mortars seen at the Folger's exhibit were of
> the size we normally associate them with but the pestles fit inside like a
> glove and looked to be far more efficient for grinding than the standard
> apothecary forms used today by most SCAdians.
>
> Ras
I have just started seeing in kitchen gadget shops a small mortar with a larger
pestle that fits it perfectly, that I want for better spice grinding. 10 -16
dollars in both ceramic and marble
Helen
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 15:12:59 -0000
From: Christina Nevin <cnevin at caci.co.uk>
Subject: SC - Woodturned items
A while back someone was talking about the difference in medieval mortar and
pestles to modern ones, and I've found a site which sells a pole-lathe
turned reproduction of a 1660 m&p (OK, slightly OOP, but I don't think they
changed that much). The URL is:
http://www.bowlturner.demon.co.uk/other2.htm
There's also a lot of very lovely replica handmade wooden spoons, bowls and
plates on the site, so go check it out.
Al Vostro e al Servizio del Sogno
Lucretzia
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lady Lucrezia-Isabella di Freccia | mka Tina Nevin
Thamesreach Shire, The Isles, Drachenwald | London, UK
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 17:42:11 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Woodturned items
cnevin at caci.co.uk writes:
<< A while back someone was talking about the difference in medieval mortar
and pestles to modern ones, and I've found a site which sells a pole-lathe
turned reproduction of a 1660 m&p >>
Visited the site. The mortar and pestle they describe is not much different
from those available now. They are, however, nothing like the ones displayed
at the Folger's Museum which clearly were composed of the bowl and a mortar
which fit perfectly in to the cavity of the bowl being only slightly less of
a diameter than the cavity itself. I'm talking mere millimeters if that much.
The interesting thing about the mortar viewed on the site, as well as, other
types of mortars dating from SCA period and before that I have seen, is lack
of the choices in mortar styles we are able to buy in the modern world
compared to those available in ages past. :-(
Ras
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000 15:35:36 -0500
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - The Mortar and Pestle Question
I, too, went shopping for a mortar and pestle the likes of which we had
seen at the Folger's exhibit. I did not find one, but did find a stone
m&p at Lechtor's that was the standard bowl shape, with the pestle
rounded and fitting exactly into the bowl (quite snugly), unlike the
common wand-shaped ones. Lady Tara got it for a 12th Night present, so
we will have to wait for her to use it and give us a report.
Christianna
Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2000 17:32:55 GMT
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Marble - Mortar & Pestle
I have several types of M&P. The agate one I have (had) broke when it was
used inappropriately (no they aren't supposed to be used as thrown weapons)
but I didn't like it overmuch. The smoothness never helped and just would
NOT pit to give the friction needed to grind things properly. It's just a
show toy. I mostly use an old porcelin one from a chemist shop of old. I
have two marble ones that I found worked pretty well after I roughed up the
surface a bit. One of them is a tight fit M&P and the other standard and I
have a couple of wooden ones which I like for some things.
As for saffron, soaking is called for in many recipes to release the color.
If a recipe asks for it ground, I generally rub the dried threads together
in my fingers. This does well enough. When making pie doughs, I crush them
not finely and set in the bit of water I use with the vinegar seperate.
Not that anyone really wanted to know, but you do now.
olwen
Date: Fri, 01 Sep 2000 16:49:34 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Marble - Mortar & Pestle
I still like my suribachi (a stoneware bowl with sharp ridges and bumps from
Japan) and its wooden pestle. Don't remember what it cost, but it seems to work
as well, if not better than most anything else. If some of what I've ground gets stuck in the ridges, I use a brush to get it out.
Kiri
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 08:46:33 -0800
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Grinding mustard seed
Nick Sasso wrote:
> I'll hunt for a Japanese mortar . . . ideas where to find one to look at
> so I know what I an actually hunting?
The item you seek is called a "suribachi" and I love them. They come in all
sizes from shot-glass to stock-pot. The mortar is ceramic with radial ridges
on the entire inside, the pestle (surikogi) is wood and can be bought
separately when you need to replace it. I saw these for the first time on
"Iron Chef" TV show and had to have a set.
<http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/suribachis.htm>;
Selene Colfox
selene at earthlink.net
From: Robyn.Hodgkin at affa.gov.au
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] cleaning mortars
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 10:27:55 +1100
My recommendation would be to use bicarbonate of soda. If it is a wettable mortar, make it into a thick paste with water. Put this into the mortar and grind it around a bit with the pestle to cover both with a decent layer. Leave it for 20 minutes and rinse it out. If you still aren't happy, give the same treatment a go but add vinegar to rinse it out; it will foam in the coolest way, and between the vinegar and bicarb should get rid of the last of the flavour/smell. (maybe leaving it smelling like vinegar!)
Bicarb is just the very best thing for absorbing flavours and smells. I keep a cup of it in the fridge to absorb fridge smells and have used it with great success as a paste on plastic containers that have absorbed garlic smells.
Kiriel
From: "Saber Sobey" <sabersobey at ntlworld.com>
Date: Wed May 28, 2003 7:43:47 AM US/Central
To: <stefan at florilegium.org>
Subject: Cleaning Brass Mortar and Pestle
One of the best methods of cleaning a brass mortar and pestle is to use half a lemon dipped in charcoal ash and gently rub all over the M & P and rinse in clean water. Dry after cleaning.
Saber
Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:08:40 -0500
From: "Cassandra Baldassano" <euriol at ptd.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Mustard - Can you cut it?
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I've been playing with three different mortar & pestles over the last couple
of years (marble, stone, unglazed porcelain). When I teach my sauces class,
I have a bit of mustard seed in each type. I find the best result is to
start grinding the mustard seed with the stone mortar & pestle, then finish
it off in the unglazed porcelain to provide the finer grind.
Euriol
Euriol of Lothian, OP
Minister of Arts & Sciences, Barony of Endless Hills
Clerk, Order of the Pelican, Kingdom of ?thelmearc
<the end>