[Sca-cooks] Querns was OOP: 18th c. chocolate

[Decker, Terry D.]

The saddle quern, which is essentially a roughly rectangular stone surface
with a depression running along the long axis and  a second rounded stone
that rides in the depression to make a grinder, is one of the oldest kitchen
implements in the world.  The earliest examples date from the Neolithic and
versions are found in most human cultures.

Another type of quern is a rock with a hole in it and a stone to fit in the
hole.  I've seen at least one example from the American Southwest, which may
predate saddle querns in that region.

The metate y mano is the Mexican equivalent of the saddle quern.  There are
small Aztec examples which stand on three feet and are probably the
predecessors of the molcajete y tejolete, which is a large mortar and pestle
with three feet, usually made of basalt.  They are not precisely the same,
but they serve a similar purpose.

Since the metate can handle more material in the grinding, it is usually
employed when larger quantities are called for.

Bear

> >Traditionally this is done on a stone mortar called a Metate
> (spelling is no doubt wrong as it is a mexican indian word).
>
> I inherited such a beast from my non-English-speaking
> grandmother.  I have no idea how old it is.  OK, it's as old as
> rock, but I don't know how long it's been a tool.  It's made
> of, well it's not as light and airy as pumice, but it's a pitted
> volcanic rock of some sort.  It's called a mocajete /moh ka
> heh' teh/ also spelled molcajete.
>
> Same thing, maybe?
>
> Iyad