12 hours ago, weinoo said:Boy, these mortar and pestles look good...
https://importfood.com/products/thai-cookware/item/mortar-and-pestle-solid-thai-granite
I have the 7" version, which is pretty beastly at around 14 pounds (with the pestle). If my bathroom scale is to be trusted, that is... my kitchen one couldn't handle the mass. The 9" one they sell must be insane. For a while, these seemed to be the mortar and pestles that got all the press. After Grant Achatz gave a positive review, I was sold.
I don't use it as much as I should, but it does look great on the counter. I mostly use it to bash up anchovies and garlic for caesar dressing or to bash up some peanuts, but I will make a pesto every once in a blue moon (though I mostly use the food processor for that). If I lived somewhere with better access to ingredients, I'd make my own curry pastes with some frequency. I actually got the M&P just after the Next: Thailand and Pok Pok cookbooks came out and I was hoping to put some Thai dishes in my recipe rotation, but that never happened. Maybe someday I'll live somewhere you don't have to mail order galangal, cilantro root, or kaffir lime leaves.