Mortar and pestle
A bowl and a heavy stick, the oldest spice tool, used worldwide for crushing and blending.
Also: pestle and mortar, okhli musal, ural, molcajete, suribachi
A mortar and pestle crushes by pressure and impact. The mortar is a bowl of stone, wood, brass or ceramic, and the pestle is the club that fits it. Forms include the Indian okhli and musal, the Thai granite krok, the Mexican volcanic-stone molcajete, the Japanese suribachi with ridged interior and the Moroccan brass mehraz. Cooks choose the material to suit the task: rough stone for pastes, smooth ceramic for dry spice, wood for light work. Pounding in a mortar releases oils differently from a blade grinder, and many insist it gives better flavour. A mortar can be used again and again for centuries, and some are family heirlooms.