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Volcanic Rock Mortar & Pestle - Molcajete - Wheel

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$29.75

Mexican kitchen cannot exist without a molcajete. Big or small, plain or ornamented, molcajete (mortar) is one most traditional kitchen tools in Mexico, in use since pre-Columbian times for grinding salsas, moles and other liquid foods, unlike the metate that is used for grinding seeds, grain and dry food. Made from the volcanic stone (a.k.a. lava stone), molcajete contains small pores that add to the tool’s usefulness, offering a highly efficient grinding surface. Every molcajete comes with a hand, called tejolote, used to press the chili, garlic, onion or avocado against the walls of molcajete. Due to the material it was made from, molcajete is always very heavy, which gives strong base for the repeated grinding efforts.

Today, molcajetes are widely used in Mexican restaurants for preparing and serving salsa, guacamole, or even steaks with cheese and grilled nopal.

Our molcajetes are made by a traditional family of stone carvers from San Lucas Evangelista, Jalisco, who have been making metates and molcajetes for generations using the local volcanic rock, and have been awarded numerous times for their artisanal work. The medium sized molcajete is ideal for serving salsa or guacamole for a group of 4 – 6 people. Small molcajetes are perfect for individual portions or for serving several kinds of salsa for tasting.

The Wheel version of molcajete comes with a gear-like ornament and a zig-zag line on the exterior. 

Each of our molcajetes comes with a small gift: a traditional cleaning brush made of roots, called metlaxelhuaztli.

Pair it up with an authentic volcanic stone spoon for serving your salsa.

IMPORTANT: Before using the metate for any food preparation, we highly recommend consulting our article for preparing the volcanic stone items for use in the kitchen (in Spanish, this process is called Curación).

Two sizes available:

Medium D 16-17 cm (6.5”)

Small D 10 cm (4”)