Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a spice bowl?

A: You may know the spice bowl by its other name: the mortar. A mortar is a bowl in which spices (or medicinal herbs, etc.) are placed and ground for use in all sorts of applications!

Q: What kind of spice bowls may I purchase?

A: You might try a porcelain mortar and pestle, a wooden mortar and pestle, a volcanic rock molcajete and tejolote, or a wooden suribachi and surikogi. These are all ethnic variations on the same theme, but with subtly different results.

Q: Are mortars and pestles used for anything other than crushing spices?

A: Why yes, they are. Mortars and pestles are also used (and have been for centuries, at least!) for crushing up and mixing medicinal herbs to be ingested by patients. Today this manifests in homeopathic medications and other holistic treatments.

Q: Don't witches use mortars and pestles to make spells and potions?

A: Some witches do, yes.

Q: Where did the spice bowl and/or mortar and pestle originate?

A: To the best of our knowledge, it found its first use 5,000 years ago in the hands of Aztecs. Their mortars are referred to as molcajetes, their pestles as tejolotes; both are fashioned out of porous basalt volcanic stone. Sometimes the molcajetes are adorned on the side with the likeness of a pig's head (and other animals)!