Grater Bowl - Roman Mortarium
for the Roman cuisine. The grater is exactly like the original one, with a grinding surface inside, so that the food can be grinded. As with the other products, the pottery and ceramics are all fully functional in your kitchen. During the Roman period the tool was known as mortarium (lat. for grinder) and was used for grinding, pulverizing and mixing especially of dairy products, herbs and spices. Today it is mostly made of harder material for kitchen use.
- Diameter 21cm
- Height 6 cm of mortarium
Clay shells were used primarily for grinding or mixing of different sauces, which were prevalent in the Roman cuisine. Some of these sauces and dips are explained in the recipe book of Apicius. To serve these, small bowls and dips were the usual tableware. Most frequently, the Romans used mortaria also for the production of moretum, a type of herb cheese spread (mixture of fresh cheese, salt, oil and some vinegar, sometimes nuts were added that were crushed together with the herbs in the mortar) to be eaten with bread.
Mortaria were, therefore, used for grinding and mixing of food, but also for kneading dough, cheese and dough-like mixtures. In the archaeological finds, the heaviest wear were found at the bottom of the bowl, which suggests a moving grinding operation. The necessary tappet (pistillum) must have belonged to the mortar, although we have no surviving evidence, a sign that these were made of perishable material like wood.
Towards the end of the 2nd century AD mortars were made of Terra Sigillata (form DG 43 and 45), which indicates a change in table fashion. This suggests that at this time, dips and sauces were directly at the table prepared.
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