What is a mortar and pestle?

Mortars are used in cooking to prepare ingredients such as guacamole 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.

It likely evolved from the more primitive metate grinding slab. Other Native American tribes used mortars carved into the bedrock to grind acorns and other nuts. Many such depressions can be found in their former territories.

In Japan, very large mortars are used with wooden mallets to prepare mochi. A regular sized Japanese mortar and pestle are called asuribachi and surikogi, respectively. Granite mortars and pestles are used in Southeast Asia, as well as Pakistan and India. In India, it's 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. In Malay, it is known as lesung. Large stone mortars, with long (2–3 feet) 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.