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Mortar and pestle

Mortar and pestle are implements used since ancient times
Mortar and pestle
to prepare ingredients or substances by crushing and grinding
them into a fine paste or powder in the kitchen, laboratory,
and pharmacy. The mortar (/ˈmɔːrtər/) is a bowl, typically
made of hard wood, metal, ceramic, or hard stone, such as
granite. The pestle (/ˈpɛsəl/, also US: /ˈpɛstəl/) is a heavy and
blunt club-shaped object. The substance to be ground, which
may be wet or dry, is placed in the mortar, where the pestle is
pressed and rotated onto it until the desired texture is
achieved.

A simple kitchen mortar and pestle

Other Mortar grinding
Contents names machine
History Uses Mincing
Etymology Grinding
Uses Mixing
Medicine Related Mill
Food preparation items
Husking and dehulling
Material
Automatic mortar grinder
Advantages
Folklore
Gallery
See also
References
External links

History
Scientists have found ancient mortars and pestles in Southwest Asia that date back to
approximately 35000 BC.[1]

Etymology
The English word mortar derives from middle English morter, from old French mortier, from
classical Latin mortarium, meaning, among several other usages, "receptacle for pounding" and
"product of grinding or pounding". The classical Latin pistillum, meaning "pounder", led to
English pestle.

The Roman poet Juvenal applied both mortarium and pistillum to articles used in the preparation
of drugs, reflecting the early use of the mortar and pestle as a symbol of a pharmacist or
apothecary.[2]
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The antiquity of these tools is well documented in early

writing, such as the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus of ~1550 BC (the
oldest preserved piece of medical literature) and the Old
Testament (Numbers 11:8 and Proverbs 27:22).[3]

Uses

Medicine
Mortars and pestles were traditionally used in pharmacies to
crush various ingredients prior to preparing an
extemporaneous prescription. The mortar and pestle, with the
Rod of Asclepius, the Green Cross, and others, is one of the
Rock mortars in Raqefet Cave, used
most pervasive symbols of pharmacology,[4] along with the
to make beer during the Stone Age.
show globe.

For pharmaceutical use, the mortar and the head of the pestle
are usually made of porcelain, while the handle of the pestle is
made of wood. This is known as a Wedgwood mortar and
pestle and originated in 1759. Today the act of mixing
ingredients or reducing the particle size is known as
trituration.

Mortars and pestles are also used as drug paraphernalia to

grind up pills to speed up absorption when they are ingested,
or in preparation for insufflation. To finely ground drugs, not
available in liquid dosage form is used also, if patients need
artificial nutrition such as parenteral nutrition or by
Stone Age stone mortar and pestle,
nasogastric tube. Kebaran culture, 22000-18000 BP

Food preparation
Mortars are also used in cooking to prepare wet or oily
ingredients such as guacamole, hummus and pesto (which
derives its name from the pestle pounding), as well as grinding
spices into powder. The molcajete, a version used by pre-
Hispanic Mesoamerican cultures including the Aztec and Maya,
stretching back several thousand years, is made of basalt and is
used widely in Mexican cooking. Other Native American nations
A traditional Indian mortar and
use mortars carved into the bedrock to grind acorns and other pestle.
nuts. Many such depressions can be found in their territories.

In Japan, very large mortars are used with wooden mallets to prepare mochi. A regular sized
Japanese mortar and pestle are called a suribachi and surikogi, respectively. Granite mortars and
pestles are used in Southeast Asia,[5][6] as well as Pakistan and India. In India, it is used
extensively to make spice mixtures for various delicacies as well as day to day dishes. With the
advent of motorized grinders, use of the mortar and pestle has decreased. It is traditional in
various Hindu ceremonies (such as weddings, and upanayanam) to crush turmeric in these
mortars.

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In Malay, it is known as batu

lesung. Large stone mortars,
with long (2–3 foot) wood
pestles were used in West Asia
to grind meat for a type of
meatloaf, or kibbeh, as well as
the hummus variety known as
masabcha. In Indonesia and the
Iconic apothecary mortar and
Netherlands mortar is known as pestle, displaying the ℞ symbol
Mortar used to pulverize plant Cobek or Tjobek and pestle is for medical prescriptions.
material. known as Ulekan or Oelekan.
The chobek is shaped lke a deep
saucer or plate. The ulekan is either pistol-shaped or an ovoid. It
is often used to make fresh sambal, a spicy chili condiment, hence the sambal ulek/oelek denote
its process using pestle. It is also used to grind peanut and other ingredients to make peanut sauce
for gado-gado.

Husking and dehulling

Large mortars and pestles are commonly used in developing countries to
husk and dehull grain. These are usually made of wood, and operated by
one or more persons.

Material
Good mortar and pestle-making materials must be hard enough to crush Women in Cape Verde
the substance rather than be worn away by it. They cannot be too brittle using a large mortar with
multiple pestles.
either, or they will break during the pounding and grinding. The
material should also be cohesive, so that small bits of the mortar or
pestle do not mix in with the ingredients. Smooth and non-porous
materials are chosen that will not absorb or trap the substances being
ground.[7]

In food preparation, a rough or absorbent material may cause the strong

flavour of a past ingredient to be tasted in food prepared later. Also, the
food particles left in the mortar and on the pestle may support the
growth of microorganisms. When dealing with medications, the
previously prepared drugs may interact or mix, contaminating the
currently used ingredients.

Rough ceramic mortar and pestle sets can be used to reduce substances
to very fine powders, but stain easily and are brittle. Porcelain mortars Mortar and Pestle from
bronze alloy, Greece.
are sometimes conditioned for use by grinding some sand to give them a
rougher surface which helps to reduce the particle size. Glass mortars
and pestles are fragile, but stain-resistant and suitable for use with
liquids. However, they do not grind as finely as the ceramic type.

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Other materials used include stone, often marble or agate, wood (highly absorbent), bamboo, iron,
steel, brass, and basalt. Mortar and pestle sets made from the wood of old grape vines have proved
reliable for grinding salt and pepper at the dinner table. Uncooked rice is sometimes ground in
mortars to clean them. This process must be repeated until the rice comes out completely white.
Some stones, such as molcajete, need to be seasoned first before use. Metal mortars are kept
lightly oiled.

Automatic mortar grinder

Since the results obtained with hand grinding are neither reproducible nor reliable, most
laboratories work with automatic mortar grinders. Grinding time and pressure of the mortar can
be adjusted and fixed, saving time and labor.

The first automatic Mortar Grinder was invented by F. Kurt Retsch in 1923: the "Retschmill".[8]

Advantages
The use of mortar and pestle, pestling, offers the advantage that the substance is crushed with low
energy so that the substance will not warm up.

Folklore
In Russian tales, Baba Yagá is portrayed as a hag who flies through the air in a mortar, using the
pestle as a rudder.

The character Baba Bangkang Pinawa,

Yaga flies while ancient Philippines'
standing in a mortar, mortar and pestle.
and holding a broom
in this artwork by
Ivan Bilibin.

Gallery

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Tjobek the A traditional Nepali Molcajete y tejolote, A Lao‑style mortar

Indonesian word in Mortar and pestle Mexico. and pestle.
Dutch spelling for
mortars and pestles.

See also
Cupstone
Dheki
Makitra
Metate
Millstone
Muddler
Molcajete
Oralu kallu
Stone and muller
Suribachi and surikogi
Usu and Kine, large pestle and mortar used in the production of Mochi
Yagen
Household Stone tools in Karnataka
The Knight of the Burning Pestle

Bakdash (ice cream parlor)

References
1. Wright, K. (1991). "The Origins and Development of Ground Stone Assemblages in Late
Pleistocene Southwest Asia" (http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/paleo_0153-9345_1991_num_1
7_1_4537.pdf) (PDF). Paléorient. 17 (1): 19–45. JSTOR 41492435 (https://www.jstor.org/stabl
e/41492435).
2. Satire VII line 170: et quae iam ueteres sanant mortaria caecos. (and the mortars that cure old
blind men)
3. www.usip.edu The mortar and pestle from the renaissance to the present (http://www.usip.edu/
museum/mortar_pestle.pdf)
4. "PHARMACEUTICAL SYMBOLS" (https://studylib.net/doc/18316183/13-pharmaceutical-symb
ols---royal-pharmaceutical-society). STUDYLIB. MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
5. Sukphisit, Suthon (2019-03-24). "The enduring symbol of Thai cuisine" (https://www.bangkokp
ost.com/lifestyle/food-and-drinks/1650208/the-enduring-symbol-of-thai-cuisine). Bangkok Post
(B. Magazine). Retrieved 2019-03-24.

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6. "The Mortar and Pestle in Thai Cuisine" (http://www.templeofthai.com/mortar_and_pestle/thai_

mortar_pestle.php). Temple of Thai. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
7. "Kitchen Essentials for Southeast Asian Cooking Basic tools and equipment for cooking
Southeast Asian food" (http://southeastasianfood.about.com/od/Southeast-Asian-Cooking-Ess
entials/tp/Kitchen-Essentials-for-Southeast-Asian-Cooking.htm). about food. Section 2. Mortar
and Pestle to Make the Best Spice Pastes. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
8. "About Us: History" (https://www.retsch.com/company/). Retsch GmbH. Retrieved 19 January
2020.

External links
Example of an automatic mortar grinder (http://www.retsch.com/products/milling/mortar-grinder
s/rm-200/function-features/)

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