How One Chef Is Fighting To Preserve A Cooking Tool As Old As Civilization Itself | Still Standing 

The stone is common in olden Indian culture. It is called 'ammi' in Tamil, it's even used as one of the tradition in Tamil marriages.

As a Mexican American I am so happy to see so many comments from Indian people who say they have something similar in their homes as well. It’s so cool to see similarities in otherwise different cultures. 😊

As Mexican I can tell you, no modern machine can compete with a metate, food in metate are just super delicious, corn tortillas in metate are heavenly, just by themselves without any filling they are amazing and with panela and sauce is just the best starter for the meal.

Last time my sister visited Mexico they traveled by land on a pick up. She brought one back, something that would be pretty hard by plane due to the weight and being a rock. At the border one officer asked if it was a historic artifact, for which she would need a permit to take out the country, but another officer knew it was a cooking tool and she got it in with no problem.

😶😶this this sil batta its common in india specifically in villages how 🤔 common Mexican and Indian culture is 😳

In India, we use a similar tool called silbatta. Anything ground with this makes the food taste better similar to how a mortor and pestel bruises the spices/herbs instead of just chopping it fine in a spice grinder. So glad to see similar cultures around the globe!

I'm from Indonesia. I love reading the comments from people all over the world and the similarities we have. I have definitely seen families use stone grinding tools to make sauces and it definitely taste better. Thanks for this video

It's not only the matate she is cooking her dish in the old fashioned way from roasting to grinding and grinding to boiling the sauce that is pure authentic. I loved it soooo much

In India we had and still have Attukkal and Ammikkal both grinding stones which played important roles in South Indian houses. Attukkal, a round wedge-shaped stone with a pit in the middle and a cylindrically shaped stone used to grind rice and lentils for making batter for Dosa-Idli cuisine and Ammikkal a flat rectangular stone with a cylindrical stone for grinding (similar to Metate grinding stone) to grind chutneys or masala for curry. Today we use Electric Wet Grinder instead of Ammikkal and of course mixer has replaced the Ammikallu. In North India or where Chapati/Roti Indian flat bread which is a staple food also in other countries like Pakistan,Bangladesh, UAE, and also prepared with other grains like maize etc. in India we also had Chakki Stone which have two stones that roll over each other and with a wooden handle to rotate the upper stone and small pit to put wheat or maize which will grind when the upper stone rolls over the lower stone. It comes out as a fine powder. Again Stone Mortar were used to separate Paddy Grains from husk. Mortar stone with a pit in the middle where paddy grains were thrown and pounded with 4 feet wooden sticks. Small mortar and pestle stones are still used to grind masala for Tea or curry dishes.

As a Ghanaian and African, this tool is still presently being used here in Ghana...so the chef is definitely not alone

This was very heart warming to see. I remember my grandma using her metate. Her cooking truly came from the heart. Evangelina is as wholesome, hardworking and selfless as my grandma was. I'm so pleased that she's getting recognition. Love from Mexico to all our siblings from different cultures! From India, to Ghana, to everywhere else.

She's not just a chef, she's an artist dedicated to her craft of keeping her culture alive. That makes me so happy to see.

I've alway found the similarities in Indian and Mexican cultures so fascinating. Our countries are so far apart yet we share similar traditions.

This is so fascinating. India and Mexico are miles away from each other, but we have so much in common. My mind is blown.

I am Mexican from Mexico city, and I cannot tell you how much I love business insider videos! they really are committed to dignified global traditions trough curiosity and dedication. Oaxacan cuisine is a TREASURE, and its absolutely delicious!! I am sure you guys loved every bite of it. Congrats! 🌹

La importancia cultural de esta mujer es fenomenal. Se merece que le den reconocimiento en Mexico y en las comunidades Mexicanas por el mundo. La manera en que utiliza el idioma español es también admirable: habla mejor español que un profesor de universidad: su vocabulario, gramática, sintaxis, son absolutamente perfectas y los utiliza con enorme humanidad. Es un placer verla y oírla.

"I don't know everything, but everything i know and am learning, i intent to share" that's the wise word i needed to hear today. This lady's love and passion for the food and culture are inspirational!

As an Indian resident in France, I have met so many cultures and I always felt that Mexico and India are so similar!! I am from Tamil Nadu and we still use it in my home sometimes for masala paste. The authentic taste is incomparable! Some traditions cannot be replaced. My mind is Blown 🤯🤯

It is great she is keeping the tradition alive. Hard work has paid off for her. You can see it in her face how proud she is.

Did you notice how she just builds and handles fire with ease? So amazing.

In Kerala, India we call that "Ammikallu". That small thing is different here, it's a bit short. Since me and my friend from Mexico start sharing culture, we realize that Mexico and India have so much culture in common.

I grew up in San Diego and my grandmother insisted that I learn how to cook the maize (nixtamalisación), grind the masa in her mother's metate and pat out corn tortillas by hand. I couldn't get through to her the absurdity of working so hard when everyone else bought their tortillas. She was right, the aroma and flavor of those homemade tortillas from fresh masa were superior to any store bought. She taught me among other things, to grind and prepare ingredients for mole and chocolate. She was the most stern teacher ever. I am grateful for learning how to cook all the foods that sustained Mexican Indigenous people for thousands of years. We have not suffered from diabetes or CV disease. I take great joy that my children and grandchildren appreciate and enjoy the food that my grandmother was determined shouldn't be forgotten because we live in modern times in the United States.

As an Indian, I'm kinda amazed at similarities of cooking methods between Mexican and Indian food

Omg I’m amazed to see how similar Indian culture is with Mexican culture. I have much respect for the ancient culture of Mexico. In my home in India we still use this ‘shil-nora’ to make masala(spice) paste.

Here in Odisha; India, we also use this grinding stone( we call it Siļa Puā in Odia) to prepare mixtures of herbs and condiments. Also, this Grinding stones were also found in the archeological sites of Asurgarh in Odisha, dating to almost 9000years ago. It is considered a personification of the bountiful Earth mother in traditional Odia culture and also used in Odia marriages.

I am from East part of India (Calcutta) but now living in the USA for over two decades. We had these two devices back home in India and had been seeing my grandma, mom using these as it enhances the flavor of spices! We called it Sheel (the bigger flat one) - nora (the smaller tool). Not only that, the earth stove she is using, people living in the village of India still use this clay stove. Even the mat she is sitting on, exactly same as the one we had. I even have that same leaf-mat here in Houston that I brought from Calcutta! World is small!

The metate has been in Mexico for centuries,way before the Spanish invasion. It is beautiful to see her hold down this tradition most of her kitchen is a time capsule that is disappearing with today’s younger people who don’t want to put in the effort for the food. I’m sure she has a molcajete as well. No dejemos morir estas bellas tradiciones 💗

The chef is just fantastic, she's so bubbly and passionate about her craft

It is a really common thing in India. My mother has two of them. She uses it regularly for making pastes when cooking. They are called by different names in different regions in India like Shil nora, sil batta, Pata varvatta etc..

So many memories seeing this ! Que grande y bello es mi Mexico! Esta señora es lo que Mexico debería ser !

It makes me happy to see her and her business doing so well!

Always thought Mexican and Indian cuisine was so similar, tortillas and roti, rice, beans, corn, salsa and kachumber… Now the stone grinding tool is also similar. Stone-ground food dishes are preferred by many, but it does take a lot of time and effort.

To the people that have not try mole, I highly recommend it! It’s a dish that really expresses the rich culture in Mexico. It has a variety of ingredients that you wouldn’t understand how those ingredients could come together and taste so wonderful. It’s such a nostalgic dish for me, my beautiful mother still makes it to this day and it’s a delight every time. Thank you for doing a wonderful job at showing the tedious process at making authentic mole.

I dont know if it come through with the translation, but she has a beautiful way with words. Her passion comes out so eloquently, I think she could be a published poet if she wanted.

She is absolutely lovely. All around. Such a ray of sunshine!

As an African and a Nigerian I know what grinding stone means. My mom used it 😂. The elders believe the stew is sweeter when a grinding stone was used rather than a blender.😊😊

It's used in India too. We bought one a few days back. Gives a unique taste to the paste and preparations!!

In North india,we call it Lodhiya silautiya ...loved to see how we humans from different continent share some similar cooking tools from ancient times

you can tell she is a very kind soul

In India we have same stone structure called as Silbatta (hindi pronunciation) and pata warwanta (marathi pronunciation from Maharashtra) it is made with basalt rock in Maharashtra and other parts specially northern parts uses brown stone silbatta,, happy to discover he have similarities, love from India ❤️❤️

This is used in our country since forever. This is how my mother makes Chatney ❤️

Beautiful. I am a Zapotec American and it’s so nice to see the traditional foods still being shared.

She threw her hand up thinking he wasn’t going to give in but just before she could walk away he agreed to turn the lights off by 10. She turned back around relieved. Beautiful!

This is called a "Grinding stone" and very common in rural areas in Nigeria and Africa. Access to electricity is fizzing it out with the aid of blenders

I love 1) How it's implied that this is the only woman in Mexico who uses a metate 2) the impressive amount of Indian people recognizing it as something they also use

This was so beautiful to watch. What a beautiful woman, you could see her love for her art. God bless her.

Some of my best childhood memories are when I'd watch my grandma make masa on the metate. She'd make me a big tortilla and put some butter on it. Sounds like something so simple, but to me it tasted so good! Much love to all my brothers and sisters from India. We do have alot of things in common, don't we? You guys have my love and respect ❤️

When you feel the weight of mourning, few things offer so much relief as comfort food made by someone that loves you, to warm your soul. This woman is world class, she holds thousand years of tradition in her heart, ready to share.

I love how similar Mexican culture and tradition is to Indian. Beautiful culture, beautiful people! Would love to visit Mexico someday! ❤from India!

As an Indian I can relate to it. We also have a similar stone pasting block. It is huge and difficult to carry. It gives unique tastes to the masalas we make. Now we have blenders and we use to stone block only occasionally.

I'm from Sri Lanka and this is still a prevalent way for grinding spices and other pastes in my country. My grandma used it regularly and Mom uses it when she's not in a hurry. It's been in our family for generations. So I'd say that this tool is not just limited to Mexico.

The Mexican market near me has metate for sale. They are slightly smaller. I remember my grandmother using it. She showed me a few times. Funny because she spoke English but refused to speak it with her family, especially with (me) her grandson who wasn't being taught Spanish. It was her way of teaching me. If I wanted to eat, I had to ask her in Spanish. I miss her so much. Haven't seen her in nearly 20 years, she passed 3 years ago. Love you abuela!

Evangelina is adorable. I hope I can visit Mexico, especially Oaxaca one day. ❤ Luv from 🇧🇷

These people should be elevated, appreciated, loved!

AI will never begin to replicate this woman's creative genius. Maybe culinary knowledge and application is the last outpost.

A single tool that's 46 years old is practically an heirloom in its own right. Lots of history in a tool that old. The stone might well hold onto flavours, too, so that each new batch inherits a little flavour from the old and imparts a little flavour itself. A sort of living history that never truly passes as long as the tool itself is used.

So happy to see other people from different countries are using it. I'm from Kerala (south India)almost every house has this. We call it 'Ammi'/"Ammi kallu ' in Malayalam.Kallu means stone. Even though we have electric grinds (mixie) everyone still use ammi. My Grandma says the food taste better when we it's from ammi😊

It’s so beautiful to see how traditions are in different places!!! Also we use that grinder in our culture and it makes me happy to see her use it as it was used for centuries ❤

My Indian grandmother used this in South Africa . We just called it the grinding stone. It's hard to find in South Africa but it's the best tool for grinding dhall for making vadde. I wish I had one.

It's really poetic when you think about it: A dish once reserved for those in mourning over the loss of a loved one, and the techniques used to make it, are given new life by women like Evangelina so it shall not meet the same fate as those with which it honors. While they may physically be gone, their memories aren't, because mole is thicker than water.

I am from Kerala , a state in south India. It's remarkable how common this is in households here it's called an Ammikkallu ( literally translates to stone that help to crush ) . It's mind blowing the same tools are being or were being used in many parts of the world.

I am Malay (from Malaysia) and our ancestors use the same stone grinder...we call it batu giling..in fact we have an assortment of stone equipment such as for grinding grains and a stone mortar for pulping chillies, seeds etc for the kitchen..I have seen them being used in other parts of the world like in Africa, India and China..

Evangelina I congratulate you for holding up the resistance against consumerism. The conservation of tradition and authentic flavor is paramount to maintain our dignity and autonomy. As a European trained Chef I learned that the conservation of tradition and authentic flavor is paramount to maintain our dignity and autonomy in any culture. Thank You

This is very common in Nigeria, use it to grind pepper, tomatoes, onions even beans. I love and miss using it. We just call it grinding stone

As a Mexican it always makes me extremely happy watching these types of videos even though personally I don't like mole I've always loved watching my mom and grandma cook it 💜

So satisfying to see similarities between Indian and Mexican culture, even when both are geographically exactly at opposite sides of each other 🇮🇳🤝🇲🇽

Mole is one of my favorite dishes. I feel connected to family when i eat it and i never knew why until now. Thank you

It took me a while to understand that this video is not from India ( I was watching the video on mute while multitasking) The similarities in cooking and surrounding is striking!

love how similar and appealing mexican food is to the indian palate. this tool is called a silbatta in India. my grandma used to make masāla-salt (called pisyu lon/pahādi namak), it used to be an amalgamation of garlic, roasted cumin, black pepper, chillies, etc.

It’s always beautiful to see this channel honor my culture. And to do it in a traditional way not a stereotypical one. I thank y’all.

Every time I see something related to Mexican culture, I find it how similar it is to Indian culture. I strongly believe we were long lost twin siblings who go on seperate ways but that wierd unexplainable connection still exists. It's no wonder that Chillies come from Mexico and Indians just made it their own. Two communities at two ends of earth that really appreciate and understand how Chillies are supposed to used.

I am from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and we have this exact tool in our home, still in use. We Tamils call it "Ammi Kal". The paste made in this process is far superior to the stuff that comes out of mixer grinder. It takes an incredible amount of time to use this and it is also very physical. Was positively surprised to see that they are used in Mexico as well.

Its called a SIL PATA in bengali (from india), each woman used to inherit one as it was an heirloom, there were specialized carvers who would go from house to house offering their service to carve the surface of the stone in designs, so as to make the surface more abrasive, My mom used to have one...But alas, this heavy contraption required a lot of space in the kitchen and could easily crack the countertop or the tile flooring in modern small houses, also its considerably heavy so the blender and mixer replaced it, but believe me a chilly garlic paste made with this is far far more flavourful than using a grinder, as the grinder chops the masala, but the heavy stone grinds and mashes the spices and herbs, thus releasing more flavour juices, also the consistency is very much different....good to see it being showcased....brings back lots of nostalgia!!!🥺

I'm from Nigeria and we had this at home growing up. Many cultures over here in Africa, even outside Nigeria use it. I was expecting something else from the title of this video but I felt a bit let down hehe. I guess this is surprising and new to Westerners but it's a normal thing to us. I love learning about these cultural connections. We are all related.

I have met Evangelina and she was so sweet and her food was amazing!!

I also think it's important to say that the "metate", and the "metlapil" (the long stone for breaking the ingredients appart) are made of quarry stone, which adds nourishing minerals and a tastier flavor, as compared using food processors. I'm Mexican, and my grandmother says that back then people were stronger because of nourishment obtained from foods prepared with "metates" and "molcajetes" (smaller, mortar-like instruments, also made of quarry stone) and their stones "tejolote" and "metlapil".

As an Indian living in South Africa the lora and seel is very sacred not only for grinding the spices and chutneys , it also represented the rock foundation at every Hindi weddings. 🇿🇦

Much respect to all the women like Evangelina keeping cultures alive!

Business Insider continues to produce great content, showing me the world.

I am from India and this is our ancient tool to grind spices and other materials as well and still used in villages called sil-batta aur sillot

Looking at the thumbnail I thought it's either from southern part of India or SriLanka... But I was surprised it's from Mexico! We definitely are related... Our looks, way of cooking and even ingredients ♥️ love from India

wow! i was looking up some nigerian recipes and remembered my auntie in nigeria using something very similar to grind and blend ingredients. i tried my hand at it once and…whew lol. love seeing the similarities in different cultures around the world here! “Traditional cooking is this. It’s art. It’s love.” 💚💯

I am from India and my mom still uses this when we make special dishes.

Stone grinding like this is being done in India from tens of thousand years and it has been fantastic taste over latest mixer grinders. Very healthy too as it add minerals from the stone. Doesn't heat up and destroy the nutrition. Great job in Mexico by the lady..!

We use this kitchen tool in Bangladesh & its been used from centuries. Its locally known as "Shil-Pata" (the cylindrical masher stone is the Shil & the mashing platform is the Pata). Its a very common kitchen tool & almost every single home owns one. Its easy to use & super versatile & used to make ground/mash/grind spices to making various types of foods. And sometimes its used & handed over from generation to generations like the present one in my kitchen was previously owned by my grandmother & then my mother & now me. Nowadays many new arrivals like mixer/food processor has arrived but nothing replaces the age-old traditional Shil-Pata.

This is called batta (bata/বাটা) in Bangladesh 🇧🇩. We use it to make a traditional dish called bhorta/ ভর্তা . It's also used in India and there its called sil batta( as per the comments). I never thought that this was used in Mexico until today. Feels good to share cultures/traditions with other countries💓 💕 ☺️

Dan hasta ganas de llorar. Que orgullo!

As a Mexican, I’m just so proud of my culture, and more so since I can proudly say I have used this tool and my mom/grandma used it often to make “mole” and to grind spices to make “chorizo” -another Mexican staple 🇲🇽❤

There is a similar tool still used in Indian villages where electricity is scarce. Its called 'Seel Batta' made of stone and flavors truly intensify when made using this method.

Eva looks like the kind of woman who puts her heart and soul into every single thing she makes and I guarantee that makes the food taste so much better.

I'm a Malaysian of Tamil descent with parent from Tamil Nadu South India. My mum used this ancient tool called " ammi' to grind spices and herbs except that it was without the outer legs and propped on a upright rectangular brick block builtup just outside the kitchen with a hose nearby to facilitate cleaning. Interestingly, the chef in above video looks Tamil as well. Maybe we were all connnected at a point in history before recorded history of West began. This tool can also be seen in Msia 🇲🇾Spore, Indonesia. Thank you for this amazing video. God bless the Mexican chef above and please send her my best wishes from Msia.💖💙

In Bangladesh 🇧🇩, we use a similar stone grinder too! In different areas it’s called different things but “shill” / “Shill Pata” / “Patta” or “Fata” 💜

I feel so lucky to have inherited my grandmother's metate from when she was a child and also to have been taught how to cook mole 😊

In India too, similar tool is in use for thousands of years. Every region in India call this with a different name. In my state, Tamilnadu it is called "Ammikal". Fascinating when you think that 2 different people in different corners of the globe came up with a similar looking tool.

I hope her children keep the cooking traditions alive. All family/ cultural culinary traditions are valuable.

Mexican food is art and I love it!

I bet everything Evangelina crafts is an explosion of flavor. Mexican cuisine is just sooo good.

My grandma who lives in Mexico still cooks like this, her and all my family that lives out there in a small town all cook like this. The food is amazing 🤤

I was cleaning out my in-laws home in Monterrey Mexico last week, I found a brand new one under a table just collecting dust. I’m taking it home to Houston next time I visit.

In Srilanka we have exactly the same tool. In sinhala we call it "miris gala / මිරිස්ගල" and in tamil its called "Ammi". Its always used when grinding chile for Sambols and all kind of spicy food.