TOLEDO Magazine the , toledo, ohio SUNday, AUGUST 2, 2015 SECTION C, Page 6 Still grinding it out

Blade photos by Jetta Fraser

BLADE PHOTOS by AMY E. VOIGT mortars and pestles in the private collection of Johnnie L. Early II, dean of the University of Toledo college of . Ancient and pestle still in use today

By ROSE RUSSELL BLADE STAFF WRITER n this electronic age, not every- one knows about mortars and pestles. If you’re younger than 30, you Imight have heard of them in passing, imagining them as objects right out of antiquity. Aren’t those the they used to grind grain and mix medi- cines in the olden days? Relics from the before food processors? Far from being found in ancient ar- Ceramic (above) and steel (below) tifacts catalogs, mor- mortars and pestles. tars and pestles are still used today. Anyone in chemistry and pharmaceu- tics is very familiar with them. Some gourmet chefs use them, and they occupy space in the of many private homes. Kenneth Alexander, a registered pharmacist and pro- fessor in the college of pharmacy at the Uni- versity of Toledo, said mortars and pestles were used by the ear- liest . Ancient Mortars and pestles in the David H. & Jill G. Scheibel Historic Apothecary in the corridor medicine men used between the Health Education Building and the Mulford Library at UT. them to grind their herbs, and the Egyp- tians used them to grind food and cosmetics, he said. “Through the early first century, they were still grinding with either stone or wood because pure glass had not been discovered yet,” Mr. Alexan- der said. Mortars are sometimes in the shape of a bowl or flute. Pestles are their cy- lindrical companions that are slight- ly curved on the end for handlers to pound and smash ingredients inside the mortar. Some mortars are small, short, and squatty and only a cou- ple of inches in diameter. Others are slender and several inches tall. In the early 18th and 19th centuries, they were large, Mr. Alexander said, from 12 inches to 18 inches tall, and from 6 inches to 8 inches in diameter. Some of these primitive tools are made from stone. Metal ones may be brass, iron, and silver, and wood ones come in walnut, cherry, hickory, and oak. “We still have in chemistry iron mortars and pestles. If you go to Mexico you can get one made out of lava and ,” Mr. Alexander said. He added that the Chinese use brass A wood mortar and pestle. mortars and pestles for traditional Chinese medicine. You’ll find glass mortars and pes- tles in use in the pharmaceutical in- dustry to prepare liquid products, he said, and ceramic ones are used to grind powders in pharmacy. And yes, the compounding process still occurs in independent and in some chain pharmacies, he said. Cooks use metal, ceramic, wood, and porcelain mortars and pestles mostly to grind herbs. “You can grind coffee in a mortar and pestle, but it’s easier in a blender,” Mr. Alexander said. Probably. And you don’t have to frequent antique shops to encounter these essential tools from the pre- industrial age. Contact Rose Russell at [email protected] or 419-724-6178. Metal mortars and pestles. A wood mortar and pestle. The David H. & Jill G. Scheibel Historic Apothecary.