Although grinding your own spices is a tried-and-true method to maximize flavor, most chefs concur that the best way to release oils and aromas is through manual pulverization. Using your own elbow grease to crush spices is also great for controlling coarseness. However, not everybody has room for a bulky mortar and pestle on the kitchen table.
Japanese design firm Nendo, in partnership with Valerie Objects, has designed an object that serves as a much more appealing way to grind salt and pepper—they’re called Bottle of Spices, two frosted glass bottles that contain whole salt rocks and peppercorns. The user is instructed to remove their corks, empty a little bit onto the shaker’s base, and use the bottle to smash it up into fine particles.
Bottle of Spices is a pair of seemingly fragile objects that are used to obliterate the very thing they’re meant to contain. It makes the act of grinding spices into a ritual, which, to some, is certainly ridiculous. But if these spice grinders really caught your eyes you can buy them for $36 a piece.