Perusing several QBO estate sales, we came across two types of historic wooden cooking tools not used all that often in Oregon. But maybe they should be! The first (of which we have two samples) is the Spurtle from Rìoghachd na h-Alba (the tiny Kingdom of Scotland) and the second is the Machacadora, from the vast Aztec Empire, Mēxihco. These tools were used to prepare the simple carbohydrate-based meal of the ordinary Scot or Aztec for centuries. For Scots, that food is porridge, AKA oatmeal. For Mexicans, it’s beans. Both are seeds which can be dried and stored for years, providing nourishment during lean times. The joke goes that an American visiting a Scottish relative said on their 2nd week of eating nothing but porridge “Don’t you ever get tired of porridge?” The astonished reply: “How canna get tired of FOOD?”
Wild oats originated in western Asia/eastern Europe, with Paleolithic people starting to gather them for food around 32,000 years ago and Neolithic people finally farming them 21,000 years later. Oats eventually made it to Scotland in 70 A.D. with a not-very successful Roman invasion. The Romans left, but oats, which flourished in Scotland’s climate, stayed. The spurtle (also called “spurtel”, “spurtil”, “spirtle”, or “spartle”) came later, in the 1400s and is judged superior to spoons for stirring your porridge while cooking. The smooth pole keeps the oatmeal from congealing or forming lumps and reduces the chance of sticking.
Not all spurtles feature the thistle-blossom shaped top, but these two do as the thistle is the national flower of Scotland. Today there are cottage industries in both Scotland and the U.S. of woodworkers turning spurtles on lathes for us serious oatmeal eaters. Scottish-made spurtles can be made from native Scottish beech, cherry and elm wood while American-made spurtles can be any hardwood like cherry, beech, maple, elm, butternut, ash or walnut. And porridge is not the only thing that gets stirred with a spurtle, people also recommend them for soups, stews, sourdough bread starters, or for mixing heavy batters. Either way, for good luck you are supposed to stir in a clockwise direction using your right hand, because… goblins, maybe?
Soy and mung beans originated in Asia, fava beans and chickpeas in the Mediterranean, but the vast majority of all other beans we eat today originated in the Americas. The oldest cultivated beans were found in Guitarrero Cave in Peru, left there circa 2,000 BCE. Both lima and speckled pinto beans (“painted” in Spanish) have been grown by multiple Mexican and Central American cultures for over 5,000 years. The Aztecs ate beans at every meal, the only food more popular being corn. Today pinto beans are the most common bean in Mexican dishes, with one of the best known being Frijoles Refritos, (Refried Beans). This is where your handy machacadora (which means “pounder/crusher”) comes in. To make Refritos, saute white onions in lard and once soft, add lightly salted beans cooked with a sprig of epazote. Maybe add some garlic, too. Start running the heavy end of your machacadora along the bottom of the skillet and the beans, fat and onions slowly incorporate into a smooth, creamy mix – Refritos! Many machacadoras are lathe-turned pine, but this sturdier, hand-carved version is made from granadillo (Mexican rosewood). Of course intrepid American cooks have successfully adapted the machacadora to other culinary tasks such as pounding shredded cabbage to ferment into sauerkraut.
If you buy a machadora or spurtle from a QBO sale, hand-wash only (no dishwasher!) And periodically revitalize them with a food-safe mineral oil or an oil/beeswax blend. Enjoy!
Tuesday Treasures was started by our staff member, Jeanne Lusignan. Each week she will be featuring items that have been found at our estate sales. If you would like to submit a treasure for Jeanne to feature in a future installment of “Tuesday’s Treasures”, please follow the button below and send us an email! Please attach a few photos of your treasure in a beautiful setting as well as any details you have about your item such as manufacturer, use, age, region of origin. If you don’t know about the piece, that’s okay! We still might be able to research it for you! Don’t forget to tell us what makes this item such a treasure to you!