I finally brought them home from cooking school. On the upper-left corner of the metate, you can still see the stains from the cacao beans from the time we made chocolate from scratch.
Mexican food and culture, on both sides of the border
I finally brought them home from cooking school. On the upper-left corner of the metate, you can still see the stains from the cacao beans from the time we made chocolate from scratch.
Such lovely instruments! I want to brave them someday..
Thanks Marie! I hope you get to know them someday, too. The metate is tough, but it’s rewarding to eat something that you’ve ground by hand.
Once you press and make a paste from cacao beans on a metate you never see a Hersheys bar the same way ;-).
Happy new year!
William: Totally. I don’t eat Hershey’s anymore. 🙂 Hope you enjoyed your holidays!
Where did you buy your molcajete? I bought mine from the Saturday morning market in Polanco and even after seasoning it the way you are supposed too with rice, beans and corn, I’m still getting grit. Any advice?
Hi Kim: I bought mine at Mercado Merced, in the paso al desnivel. (It’s the little underground tunnel that leads from the fruit and vegetable market to the cheese/meat area.) I didn’t actually season my molcajete properly — I was too impatient to do it all at once — and when I used it, it had grit still, too. I think I’m going to start from scratch and try it again. Did you do four turns of dried corn, four of dried beans, four of dried rice and three soaked rice? I have more instructions in a post I did on how to season a molcajete.
If you did all that, your molcajete might be defective. I recently read in a Diana Kennedy cookbook that the best molcajetes are made from black, not-very-porous lava rock. In second place is the dark gray molcajetes, and in third place are the gray concrete-looking ones. (Which I think is what I bought above.) According to Diana, the gray concrete ones will never lose their grit.
Let me know what happens!
Thanks Lesley! Between me and my help we did four turns of each. My arms got a really good workout! I think the tejalote is bad. It’s very porous and light. The molcajete seemed fine when I used the back of a spoon to squish avocado for guacamole. I’ve begun my search for a new tejalote.
Great news! I’m so glad it worked out for you.
Isn’t it wonderful that we still use the tools of our ancestors! It makes me feel so close to my culture! No mexican kitchen is complete without them!
How rich to be able to make your own chocolate. I would love to own the metate. I have the other. In new york they would probably cost a fortune. I must go out and search.
If I did not wish you a Happy New Year I am doing it now. All the best fr 2012 and if ever in New York, let me know.
Norma
Hello! I am lucky enough to have my great grandmothers metate that works just fine but I’m afraid to heat it up for fear of it breaking so I bought a metate similar to yours here in Austin, TX. The vendor said it was powers volcanico and that it came from Pueblo, Mexico. I have washed it, scrubbed it, took it too a car wash and power washed it, ground beans, corn, rice, soaked rice. The grit is gone but every time I wash it I keep seeing dark gray or black water (mine is volcanic rock so it’s quite dark). Is there anything else I can do to stop the water from running black after I scrape it clean? I tried making masa on it and sure enough dark gray spots showed up. Is this a bad/fake metate? Is the dark water normal and if so, is it safe to use with food?