Monday's Food Tip: This Week's "Gotta Have" Kitchen Gadget

With all the fancy food processors, blenders, and coffee grinders on the market today, it's easy to assume something as basic as a mortar and pestle set is no longer needed in the kitchen.

But find out more about this handy little "gadget" and you probably won't make that assumption.



A mortar is a sturdy bowl and a pestle is a club-shaped tool with a rounded bottom. Together, this dynamic duo is still the ideal kitchen tool when you want to pulverize spices, herbs, nuts, or other foods, reducing them to a thick paste.

Read a short history of the mortar and pestle, and learn how to use this tool, here.

Find recipes that use ingredients pulverized with a mortar and pestle here.



Learn how to make French pistou or pesto (Did you know the word "pistou" means "to pound"?) here.



Read about the 5 top mortars and pestles here.

Look for this "gotta have" gadget at fine department stores and kitchenware stores everywhere.