Shitaku Mortar & Pestle

The Shitaku Mortar & Pestle is created by Makoto Koizumi, one of Japan's leading industrial/product designers, for the popular Japanese brand Kihara. Like a traditional suribachi, the unglazed interior of this mortar is grooved with the geometric pattern known as kushi-no-me. This rough texture makes it easy to grind round ingredients such as seeds and small nuts, while efficiently extracting moisture and essential oils from herbs and spices.

This handsome kitchen essential comes in two forms. The compact-sized Mortar & Pestle, and the larger Mortar Bowl & Pestle, which can be used both as a grinder and as a vessel from which food can be eaten or served.