This invention relates to food grinding and chopping devices and methods.
Devices available for grinding food substances have included the mortar and pestle for a very, very long time.
Similarly, devices available for chopping food items long have included the “mezzaluna”, a curved, often half-moon shaped cutting blade often with a curved bowl-shaped wooden chopping block type of receptacle. Such a device often is used in chopping herbs, garlic and other such food objects.
The combination of a mortar and pestle and a mezzaluna often are used, particularly in Italian cooking, for making pesto sauce, a sauce made from basil, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese and other ingredients.
Typically, the mezzaluna is used to chop the fresh basil leaves and garlic and the mortar and pestle are used to grind those ingredients together with olive oil into a paste.
Although a blender or food processor can be used to chop the basil leaves and garlic, many connoisseurs strongly believe that the sauce prepared using a mezzaluna and mortar and pestle is superior to one prepared using motorized food processing.
The mortar and pestle and mezzaluna also are used to make salsa and other similar food items.
One of the problems with the use of mortar and pestle and mezzaluna devices in the past are that of providing storage space for the devices when not in use, and slippage of the mortar and mezzaluna bowls on the surfaces of countertops when they are in use.
It is an object of the invention to provide food grinding and chopping devices, and particularly mortar and pestles and food choppers in which the foregoing problems are either solved or greatly alleviated.
In accordance with the present invention, these objects are met by the provision of a mortar and pestle and chopper combination in which a bowl-shaped mortar and chopping bowl preferably have bottom walls which are shaped so as to engage one another when one is positioned atop the other with the other upside-down and resting on a horizontal support surface. This construction holds the bowls together while the upper bowl is being used for either grinding or chopping and simultaneously facilitates the space-saving storage of the devices when not in use.
The rims of the lower bowl and the upper bowl both preferably have elastomeric surfaces to cushion the impact of the rim against and damage to a surface upon which it sits, and to better grip the surface to prevent the assembled bowls from sliding on the counter top.
It also is preferred that one of the receptacles, preferably the mortar, have opposed notches for receiving the ends of the handle of a mezzaluna blade, so that the mortar and pestle and chopper can be stored together stacked upon one another with the mezzaluna blade and the pestle inserted into the cavity of the mortar bowl so that the assembly requires relatively little storage space, either on the counter top or in a cupboard when not in use.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from or set forth in the following description and drawings.
Referring now to
The mortar bowl 32 is made of traditional mortar bowl material such as volcanic basalt rock. A pestle 38 is shown in
The mortar bowl has three upwardly extending elastomeric projections or feet 40 which serve as frictional and cushioning members to separate and protect the counter top on which the bowl 32 is resting upside-down. A pair of spaced notches 44 in opposite sides of the upper rim of the bowl 32 are provided for receiving the ends of a wooden handle 52 of the mezzaluna blade 54 for storage purposes. The bowl 32 has a hemispherical internal receptacle area 42 into which items to be ground are placed and ground by use of the pestle 38, in a well known manner.
The mezzaluna or chopping bowl 34, which is shown in
In use, one can start with either of the two bowls in the uppermost position. However, it will be assumed that the mortar bowl is being used first when mounted atop the bottom of the chopping bowl 34.
When the two are mounted as shown in
When the combination 30 rests upon a horizontal surface, the rim of the chopping bowl 34 provides a broader area of support base for the upper bowl than if the upper bowl rested on its own bottom wall.
When it is desired to cut instead of grind, the contents of the mortar bowl are removed, and it is turned upside-down so that its feet 40 rest on a counter top or other support surface. Then, the mezzaluna chopper is used to chop herbs or garlic or other items in the chopping bowl 34. The chopping bowl is mounted on top of the bottom of the up-turned mortar bowl 32 and the two bowls are secured together by the same mechanism as that described above and shown in
In making a pesto sauce it might be preferred to start by chopping the herbs and garlic in the chopping bowl 34 and then up-turning the grinding bowl 32 and depositing the contents from the bowl 34 into it, and then adding the spices and olive oil, etc., and grinding them together to form a paste for a sauce.
For some salsas, some grinding of the soft vegetables forming the salsa sometimes is desired. In such a case, ingredients can be chopped in the chopping bowl, and then ground a little in the mortar bowl to make a superior salsa or sauce.
The chopping device 36 is shown in
The chopping device 36 consists of a stainless steel cutting blade which has an oblate semicircular shape and a sharp cutting edge 56. The curved shape of the blade is designed to match the curved inner surface of the wall of the mezzaluna bowl 34.
A wooden handle 52 is attached to the blade 54 by means of rivets or screws 58.
The pestle 38 is shown in
The chopping bowl 34 preferably is made of hardwood such as maple, beech, etc.
When the bowls 32 and 34 and the implements 36 and 38 have been cleaned and it is desired to store the combination 30, the chopper 36 is placed into the mortar bowl 32 with the ends of the handle 52 resting in the notches 44 in the mortar bowl rim, and the blade 54 descending into the cavity 42 of the bowl. Preferably, the blade 54 is shaped to fit into the recess 42 with some clearance.
The pestle 38 also is inserted into the bowl and the combination 30 is stored on a counter top or on a cupboard shelf or wherever else desired, occupying less of the surface area of the support surface than if the two bowls were separate.
The above description of the invention is intended to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes or modifications in the embodiments described may occur to those skilled in the art. These can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.