What makes a cooking utensil essential? For a home cook, that can be as subjective as the type of foods they like to prepare and eat. Sure, a couple of skillets and a pot can take care of most of the sauteing and simmering, but it’s always worth taking inspiration from kitchens around the globe to finish filling out our cabinets and drawers. Every culture comes with its own set of beloved tools that are inextricable from the foods that define it.
She also uses the granite mortar and pestle to finely grind dry spices like coriander seeds, cardamom and whole cumin for her Pakistani-style spice mix for curries. Saadat, who is of Persian heritage, has a dedicated brass mortar and pestle to finely grind saffron and a Japanese suribachi for crushing cardamom. “I need a closet just for the mortar pestles in my kitchen,” she said, laughing. Karla Tatiana Vasquez depends on her Salvadoran clay comal every day.