"Doug Kanter" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> I didn't know stainless steel was a common material centuries ago. But
> anyway.....isn't a mortar supposed to have an interior surface with a
matte
> (not-glossy) surface, so whatever you're grinding doesn't slip away from
the
> pestle?
>
>

It depends. I have used a set in a laboratory that was some kind of hard,
highly polished mineral, the aim was to grind up small samples of crystaline
material very finely and to be able to clean it out effectvely in between
uses to prevent one sample contaminating another. It worked OK but you
wouldn't want to use it to make a curry.

David