In the kitchen

I don't often use our lesung / mortar & pestle  all that often but I took it out a few days ago to crush garlic and ginger to make our favorite gai yang - barbequed chicken Isan style. I was trying to do it as quickly as possible so the kids would not see me and want to have a go but I was found out by Ayden who of course insisted on a go.

The scene brought me back my own childhood being in my paternal grandmother's kitchen. Married into a family that loved their food she was a fantastic cook. Anyway I used to always want to have a go on the lesung when she was busy in the kitchen and in a fret that I would pound my little fingers - just my own fears for Ayden that day.

It also made me remember my grandmother's batu giling. I think the best translation for this is quern stone. These were the days before blenders and my grandmother would grind her spices with fresh tumeric to make various curry pastes. I remember it used to take her a while to grind it down into a fine paste which must have been quite a workout considering the size and weight of the stone rolling pins - and it was no surprise she never let me have a go on it! Sadly I don't know what happened to her slab and pin but I think she eventually threw it our herself and got a blender!