"Old-fashioned" mortar and pestle in Rome?
 

When I was in Genoa I meant to and did not buy one of the old-fashioned looking mortar and pestle sets -- white, some quite large and all heavy-looking. My current trip is almost over, and I realized I have forgotten to find one on this trip too. [I have looked online for U.S. sources and haven't found one. . . if someone knows of one, let me know please.]

Does anyone know of a source in Rome? Thank you all!

One problem I think you are going to have is that if you are looking for a classic Genovese mortar and pestle, the mortar is made of marble but the pestle is made of olive wood. Most everywhere else what you see on sale, the two parts are either both stone or both wood.

Given the weight of these things, I think you might be happier ordering this version from Sonoma-Williams, which is made of Carrara marble and has a beechwood pestle

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/produ...cm_ite=default

and then of you really want an olive wood pestle, purchase it separately, or buy an olive wood mortar/pestle set and use the wood mortar for different recipes.

If you are from the U.S., you can buy all marble sets at Sur la Table (4 sizes), Crate and Barrel, even Amazon.

Sur la Table also has all olive or all acacia wood sets.

Thanks. If I don't run across the perfect one today, Williams-Sonoma it is!

The chi-chi kitchen store cucina, which has become a veritable chain, has marble mortars:
http://www.cucinastore.com/zoom/m3-1-129.html

Look for the C.U.C.I.N.A. store near the Spanish Steps on Via Mario di Fiori.

Their website shows white marble mortars in two sizes, 10 cm./4 in. (20 euros) and 18 cm./7 in. (52 euros). It looks like the pestle for each is wood.

http://www.cucinastore.com/

Yes, I went to C.U.C.I.N.A. yesterday. It's quite like Williams-Sonoma in translation!

As a result, I'll buy at home and save the plane ride clutching a mortar and pestle. Should have bought it in Genoa in May.

Thanks, everyone!

Do not attempt to take one of these babies as hand luggage. I bought a beautiful 30cm diametre one in a street market in Castallina for just €70, a fantastic marble mortar with the added advantage of a marble pestle - more like a big marble bowl than the pathetic little mortars you can buy over the internet. I'd been looking for the bigger variety for a long time, so the disappointment on having it confiscated when going through airport security - on the grounds that it could potentially be used as a weapon - was extreme. Unfortunately, I was already too late to go back, package it up and check it into the hold. Some bloody security guard must by enjoying it now. On arriving back in Britain I did a little research on where I might buy something similar. Best deal I could find for a similar sized one was €420 from an Italian marble supplier in Carrara, shipping inclusive. At six times my original buying price, this seemed a little steep. Hardly anyone seems to make the bigger variety any longer, so if you find one for a reasonable price, do tell.