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April 8, 2017: Mate: South America's morning Brew

 

If coffee is the morning beverage of North America (and most of the world for that matter), my limited experience in South America was that many people preferred a type of locally grown herbal tea called Mate (pronounced mah-teh).  This is what the plant looks like....

032 Buenos Aires Jardin Botanico 2014. Mate

033 Buenos Aires Jardin Botanico 2014. Mate

Mate  also known as yerba mate, is rich in caffeine and is especially popular in in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Southern Chile and Southern Brazil.  A small amount is exported and sold in other countries, including in the Middle East, but mate has its home in southern South America.

The drink is prepared by steeping a handful of dried yerba mate leaves in hot water.  As the beverage is consumed, more hot water is added to the same wet mate clump over and over, and the drink is often sipped for hours, a thermos of hot water used to keep it warm and brewing. 

It is traditional to prepare the drink in a hollow gourd and to sip the beverage with a metal (classically silver) straw called a bombilla, The straw is classically made of silver and allows the liquid in but keeps the wet mate leaves in the gourd.  It is common for a single cup of mate to be shared among a group of friends -- a type of bonding.

Argentina, Perito Merino Glacier 053. Drinking mate

El Calafate Laguna Nimez Nature Preserve 2-2014 001 (124)
The locals tout the healthful benefits of the beverage, and I'm sure it is rich in antioxidants.  But mate has also been associated with adverse health outcomes including cancer of the mouth and esophagus (especially in people who drink LOTS of mate and also smoke tobacco).

We tried the stuff and frankly I didn't like it; I'll stick with my Tim Horton's brew, thanks.  But I did find the gourds the drink was consumed in to be varied and interesting, as you can see from these photos.

El Tigre, Argentina 2014 (96)
(we purchased the middle one from the front row)

IMG_9227

IMG_9228

El Tigre, Argentina 2014 (51)

The city of El Tigre even had a Mate Museum which is pictured at the top of this post.

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  • Mate plant
  • Mate plant
  • Drinking mate
  • Drinking mate
  • Mate cups
  • Mate cups
  • El Tigre, Argentina 2014  (120): Mate Museum
  • Mate cups
  • Mate cups

Twitter: @DrFumblefinger

"We do not take a trip, a trip takes us".  John Steinbeck, from Travels with Charlie

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