Metate y Metlapil

There are two types of mortars and pestles in Mexico. One is for dry ingredients, one is for liquid.

A Metate y Metlapil is for dry.

"Metate" is the mortar (the grinding surface); "Metlapil" is the pestle (also called "mano", the grinding "stick.")

The mortar is basically a grinding stone, the Central American equivalents of the European mill stones or querns.

It is a stone slab with three short legs, with a top that is relatively flat, rough, and slanted. There are two shorter feet in the front, one higher foot on the back to make it slanted. The surface will be about 20 inches (50 cm) long by 12 inches (30 cm) wide.

The pestle is also made of rough stone.

They are used to grind corn, nuts, seeds, cocoa beans, etc.

To use, you sit or kneel behind it, facing the slanted end, and grind downwards on the slope. You use the pestle as you would a rolling pin. You put your food in the centre, and roll the pestle back and forth over it.

Almost no one uses a Metate y Metlapil anymore, as they have been replaced with either hand-cranked grinders, or electric blenders.

A Metate y Metlapil needs to be seasoned in the same way as a molcajete is (see Molcajete y Tejolete for the curing procedure.)

This version is based on the Aztec version, which had three legs. The Mayan version just sat flat on the ground.

In Nahuatl (the Aztec language), "Metate" comes from the word for the grinding surface, "metlatl." "Metlapil" means "son of metate."

Also called:

See Also: Molcajete y Tejolete

Other entries for: Mortar and Pestle
Metate y Metlapil, Molcajete y Tejolete, Samp Mortar, Suribachi, Thai Mortar and Pestle, Usu

Other entries for: Mills
Food Mills, Food Processor, Nut Mill, Passoire, Pepper Mills, Potato Ricer, Quern, Ricer, Spice Grinder

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Alambic Stills, Apple Corer, Avocado Slicers, Baking Mats, Baking Stones, Batterie de Cuisine, Biscuit Brake, Blowtorches, Branding Iron, Bread Bins, Bread Machines, Bulb Baster, Butter Muslin, Caja China, Can Openers, Canning Funnels, Cans, Chopsticks, Contact Paper, Cookware, Cooling Racks, Corkscrews, CorningWare, Cuppitiello, Dishwashers, Dough Scrapers, Doughnut Cutters, Egg Cups, Egg Timers, Esky, Fat Separators, Flour Dredgers, Flour Duster, Food Pushers, French Butter Crock, Funnels, Girdle, Graters, Griddles, Heat Diffuser, Ice Pick, Icing Syringe, Kitchen String, Kitchen Tongs, Kneading Gloves, Knives, Measuring Cups, Meat Tenderizer, Melon Baller, Milk Cellar, Non-Electrical Rotisseries, Olive Pitter, Oshibori, Oxo Good Grips, Paraffin, Pastry Brush, Pastry Frame, Pea Sheller, Petites Marmites, Pie Plates, Pie Racks, Pizzelle Iron, Proof Box, Ramekins, Rolling Cookie Cutters, Rolling Pins, Salad Spinner, Salamanders, Salt Pigs, Scales, Spatulas, Steamers, Sugar Cutters, Tassie Cups, Tea Trappings, Thermometers, Tortilla Warmers, Treen, Tupperware, Uchiwa, Waffle Iron, Whisks

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