The museum’s exhibition includes a mortar (a bowl-shaped container) and a pestle (an oblong mushroom-shaped object that resembles a staff or mace). As a set, they are intended for grinding things. A product is placed in the mortar, and the pestle is used to grind, press and mix it to the required condition.
As household utensils, the mortar and pestle have been known to man since ancient times, for example, archaeologists found mortars in Neolithic burials dating back 7,000–8,000 years ago.
Mortars and pestles were always made of hard materials, originally wood. In Russia, thick trunks of aspen, oak or birch were used to make mortars. They were stable, but heavy and massive, and therefore had special handles on the sides for carrying. The height of mortars was up to 80 centimeters, depth — up to 50 centimeters, and diameter — up to 40 centimeters.
The pestle was also made of strong wood, its end was often covered with iron to make it heavier and prevent it from being split.
The buffet acquired its name from the Latin bufetum — “shiny, elegant table”. This word came into the Russian language in the era of Peter the Great’s reforms. This practical cabinet for kitchen utensils quickly gained popularity and eventually became so popular that a special buffet room was allocated for it. Soon the foreign word began to be used to designate a counter where snacks were put up for sale. Later, it also became the name of the establishment, where a quick snack was served.
Soon, stones such as granite or basalt were used as materials for this type of cooking utensils, Cast iron, bronze, brass and stainless steel mortar and pestle sets appeared much later.
As a rule, mortars had one bowl, but sometimes they had double ones. In the latter case, one bowl was used for grinding hemp, and the other one — for peeling the grain, a very labor-intensive process. Thus, for cooking, the grain had to be cleaned from husk, which was done by “pounding”, that is, first beating it with a pestle for a long time, and only then cleaning it from chaff and dust by air flows. In order for the grain not to go rancid, it was pounded in limited quantities — just enough to last for several weeks. Flax was also occasionally ground in mortars after it had been processed on a breaker.
Modern pharmaceutical and chemical industries use mortars and pestles made of porcelain and glass. Small mortars made of onyx, agate, carnelian and other semi-precious stones and minerals are used to prepare spices and incense.
