My Mortar and Pestle and a Guacamole Recipe

My favorite kitchen tool is a stone Mortar and Pestle.  It sits proudly on my kitchen counter, holding its own in a caveman-esque sort of way, flaunting its primal elegance in between the commercial stove and espresso machine.  It's smugly confident in its weight and kitchen hierarchy (deemed decorative) while my food processor and standing mixer are banished behind cabinet doors (deemed clutter.)   New kitchen techniques are awe-inspiring and futuristic, yet my mortar is old and wise with a lineage extending as far back as the Old Testament.  Evaporators, anti-griddles, gastro-vacs may be cutting edge, favored by professional chefs and avant-garde molecular gastronomy experts, but my mortar has a stellar history as an essential tool to Native Americans, ancient Romans and Greeks, medieval pharmacists and home cooks spanning the ages from the dawn of civilization.  It is the embodiment of simplicity and timelessness, pleasingly tactile and massively elemental.  And it's affordable. 

What can you do with a mortar and pestle?  You can grind, pound and smash to your heart's content, making pestos, pastes, sauces, dips, dressings and marinades.  You can grind seeds into powder.  (I assure you the results of lightly toasting cardamon, cumin or coriander seeds and then grinding them to a fine powder in a mortar will yield results unparalleled by the pre-ground versions.)  The mortar is also the perfect place to smash garlic with sea salt, adding fresh cut herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage, basil, mint. Crush the garlic first with the salt, then add the herbs and bruise them by giving them a few turns with the pestle to release their juices and flavor.  You will be left with a powerful, aromatic paste you can smear on meats and poultry before roasting.

You can also create a complete dish and serve it in the mortar. Try making Guacamole.  Serve with chips, and you have one-stop-shopping in a primitive vessel.

Guacamole
Makes about 2 cups

1 small red onion, finely diced
1/2 red serrano chile pepper, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro/coriander sprigs
2 ripe avocados
1/2 small yellow onion, grated, with juices
Juice of one lime
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
dash of hot sauce, such as Tabasco

Prepare:
Add red onion, minced pepper, and garlic to the mortar.  Press on the ingredients with your pestle, and grind them around the mortar in a circular movement.  Add a half of the fresh cilantro/coriander sprigs and gently bruise them with the pestle.  Add 2 ripe avocados, yellow onion with juice and lime juice. Continue pressing, grinding and smashing until you get a desired consistency. Add salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.
Serve with tortilla chips.

Try these recipes using a mortar and pestle from TasteFood:

Moroccan Spiced Chicken under a Brick

Harissa

Comments

[Denise]

I could go for some now! This looks delicious and is surely a crowd pleaser!

[susan from food blogga]

I love the way you wrote this post, Lynda.You're making me long for that mortal and pestle now, not mention some guac and chips!

[MAry Ann]

I love your mortar and pestle. Can you share what kind it is?

[Lynda]

Mary Ann,
I bought it in a supermarket when I lived in Copenhagen. It didn't have a special name, but I have seen similar ones in the U.S. in various kitchen stores. It's worth the search!

[AnonymousChef]

Try this... Making a chile paste and using it as a base yields more flavor that permeates the avocado instead of dicing the ingredients and simply tossing together. Also, white onion (not yellow or red) is traditional and the only onion real Mexicans that are serious about guacamole rely on. There's also no need for hot sauce and garlic and black pepper are not traditional.

1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion
1 firmly packed tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons finely minced jalapeño, or more to taste
1 level teaspoon kosher or sea salt

the juice of ½ lime
3 ripe but firm Hass avocados, flesh roughly chopped

3 tablespoons diced tomato
2 firmly packed tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped white onion

More salt, if necessary
White corn tortilla chips

1) Mash first 4 ingredients into a paste.
2) Mash avocado to desired texture. Sprinkle with lime juice. Add to chile paste.
3) Fold in the last 3 ingredients. Garnish top with extra.
4) Season to taste. Serve with tortilla chips.