How to Prepare a new Marble Mortar for Its First Use
This technique is performed to remove any marble stone grit before your first use so that grit does not get in your food.
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
- 3 Tbls Coarse Salt or an equal amount of uncooked white rice
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 3 Tbls Baking Soda
Rinse your new marble mortar and wooden pestle or a dish brush with water. Dry both the mortar and pestle thoroughly.
Grind with the coarse salt: Add salt to the mortar and start grinding with the pestle. Press and crush the salt by rotating the pestle in a circular motion and push the salt up the mortar sides to crash salt against the entire bowl interior.Continue to grind the coarse salt for several minutes until the entire bowl has been scrubbed with salt thoroughly. Tilt the mortar for a better angle to scrub the sides of the mortar bowl. 3 Tbls Coarse Salt
Discard this salt.
Garlic Paste: Roughly chop or slice 3–4 cloves of garlic and add to the mortar. To crush, tap the cloves a few times to start to break up the cloves.Add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of coarse salt. In a circular motion continue to grind with the pestle in the bowl base, then up the sides. Once the garlic is fully crushed to a paste and starts become one and/or slip away from the sides of the bowl you can remove the garlic (Tip: a flexible spatula works well for removing garlic paste). 4 cloves Garlic
Discard the garlic.
Rinse the mortar and pestle with water again. Dry thoroughly with a towel.
Grind Baking Soda: Add 3 tablespoons of baking soda. Then add water a little at a time until it forms a thick paste with the baking soda. Press and rotate the pestle in the bowl base and up the bowl sides to thoroughly clean the mortar bowl interior.
3 Tbls Baking Soda
Rinse the mortar and pestle thoroughly with water once again until no baking soda is left and the bowl and pestle feel and look clean. The mortar bowl will still feel rough as it should, but a little less ridgy than before this process.Dry both really well with a towel and set the pestle if made of wood on a dish rack or across the top of the mortar bowl so the wood will thoroughly air dry on all sides.
