Get Thyself a Smashing Device
15 August 2007 by Jean Johnson
If you hang around long, you’ll find that measure free cooking doesn’t require spendy equipment–or much equipment. There are, though, a few things that I find indispensable, and one of them is a nice deep mortar and pestle. As you can see in the image, the mortar is simply clay and the pestle, nothing more than a stout piece of wood for pounding away. Yet, so important I feature it in Cooking Beyond Measure on page 65.
This smashing device is great fun. Like plucking chickens used to be. Once you get done, whatever stress your had when you started is long gone–even though smashing up a clove of garlic and a few basil leaves is lots speedier and considerably less grisly than I imagine plucking a bird is.
I didn’t have a mortar and pestle until last February when I finally got my first passport visited ex-patriot friends from the Sixties in Bangkok. It was great to reunite with them, and also great to bond with the woman who cooks for them. When my two weeks was up, Dang made sure I got one of the Thai mortar and pestles I watched her use so adeptly during my stay.
For months it just sat around in my kitchen, but after I spoke with a Jordanian friend recently, asking her about tabbouleh, Rula talked in terms not of mincing, but of pounding the garlic with the salt.
Not that I have used my mortar for either Thai or Middle Eastern food just yet. As it turned out it’s maiden voyage was for a version of pesto. I had some vine-ripened tomatoes I wanted to dress, and I thought it might be easier to pound the fresh basil and garlic cloves that it would be to do all that chiffonading and mincing–or for that matter, deal with the food processor or blender.
Not entirely trusting the process just yet, I did give the basil and garlic a quick rough chop before shunting it into the mortar. But then, it was just little pour of olive oil and a bit of pounding to produce very lovely pesto. No wonder that’s why Mediterraneans have always done proper pestos this way. Not only is it quick, the result has character with some pieces smashing down to nothing while others remain almost leaf-like.
I’m a convert. The smashing took all of a minute or two. More swabbing of my chopping board and rinsing of the mortar was a breeze–much easier than dealing with the blender pitcher or food processing tubs.
I will definitely try this again when the it’s time to make some official pesto. Plus, now that I realize how easy it is, I’ll for sure be trying to mimic some of what I learned in Thailand, not to mention whipping out some tabbouleh.
So get thyself a smashing device and come along on the flash cooking ride. As I noted in my very first post on this blog two weeks ago, any Asian market should carry these. If not a google search will bring one up for mail order.
Per the photo above, get a deep one. That way the stuff does not splash out. More, one made from clay with a wooden pestle will clearly be more affordable that fancy marble or stone kinds. These types might work great for spices, but for working up some garlic, basil, et al, overkill unless you aren’t on a budget.
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Note on Coarse Salt: In the photo you can also see my yellow dish of coarse salt. It sits out on my work surface all the time, making it easy for me to nab a pinch when I want. I buy my salt in the bulk bins at New Seasons, a local Portland chain of whole foods grocers. It’s cheap, and it’s good.
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