Posted 13 years ago
ho2cultcha
(5064 items)
This is a really great bowl! it's about 15 inches across. The incised decoration is beautifully done and very bold. I'm puzzled about what it was used for though. Unlike in America, planters always had holes in them in Mexican pottery. This doesn't have a hole. It might be for resting dough or masa in when making tortillas or bread, but i don't know... any suggestions?
thanks bratjdd. i have about a dozen molcajetes and they are all made of stone. they can be made of glass, or porcelain, or anything that is very hard, but this is mexican redware - not hard enough to be a molcajete. that's what confused me. it would be great to serve a HUGE bowl of salsa, but not to grind anything with. any other guesses?
my friend Rafa who is an expert at cooking w/ these old things, says that it's for making atole or champurrado - something liquid. he says the inside lip is the clue. it's made so that you can stir liquid w/out spilling it. i think he's right. he can't remember the name for it though.