URUGUAY HOW TO PREPARE
A DRINK OF MATE:
MATE Fill the mate gourd to
THE DRINK OF URUGUAYANS approximately two-thirds of its
capacity with “yerba” (dried
leaves of Ilex paraguariensis).
Cover the gourd with one of your
hands and tilt it to the side so
that all the yerba goes to that
side and an empty space is left
from the bottom to the top of the
gourd.
Pour warm water in the empty
space you left until it reaches the
rim and let it sit for some minutes
so that the dried leaves of yerba
can hydrate and swell.
Insert the metalic drinking straw
called “bombilla” into the gourd,
right in the center of the space
you filled with water and cover
the upper tip of the straw with
your thumb while you do it.
Rambla 25 de Agosto de 1825 y Yacaré
Montevideo, Uruguay
00 (598 2) 1885100
[Link]
Finally, pour hot water (not
[Link] |
boiling) to obtain the mate
Photos: Photo Archive Ministry of Tourism - Enrique Pérez, infusion drink and sip from
Aguaclara Fotostock Uruguay, Kromostock, the straw.
Ramón Martínez.
February 2019
ENG
MATE drinking ELEMENTS OF MATE
Mate is the drink from the infusion of yerba mate leaves. Yerba comes from the Ilex paraguayensis species or
“Yerba” is made of dried and ground leves of the Ilex yerba mate tree, native to South America, and grows
paraguariensis species.
spontaneously in cultivated environments in mild or
temperate areas of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.
The origin of this drink goes back to prehispanic times of the
guarani culture. However, in the XVII century, while tea drinking
It is quite hard to think of Yerba has a significant content of caffeine.
When comparing the percentages of this
was gaining more and more followers in Europe, in South America,
and especially in Uruguay, mate drinking was spreading very fast.
a Uruguayan who does not alkaloid in tea and coffee, yerba mate is
drink mate. It is part of the positioned in the middle. Likewise, yerba
At the beginning mate was an inseprable companion for country mate also contains substances of high
men. Under different names such as Cimarrón, amargo (bitter), essential national culture. nutritional value such as vitamin
verde (green), mate was a loyal friend for people on the fileds and
for both lonely and joyful times. As time went by, mate started to
But, what is mate? A. The specific composition of
yerba mate, especially because
conquer the city and today mate drinking is a common practice in of its caffeine content, makes its infusion a very
all the territory of Uruguay as well as in Argentina, Paraguay and stimulating and tonic drink. In the same way, it
the south of Brazil.
acts as a diuretic and vasodilator. Traditionally,
mate has been made from a dried calabash
gourd that, properly sectioned, is transformed into
the container. The word mate comes from a Quechua
word that designates the container (calabash gourd),
which later became the word to name the drink itself.
The mate gourd must be “cured” before using it as
a container to drink the infusion. Containers of other
materials such as ceramics, glass and more recently
silicone are also used. The tradition of mate drinking is so
vivid today that there are always a myriad of innovations
around the infusion. Such as for example, the so-called
“Mate Go”. An accessory which enables ready to drink
mates to be carried in a purse of backpack
without any spill of yerba. The straw (bombilla),
usually made of metal, is the accessory
Mate adopts different meanings depending on the place, the time whose function is the absorption and filtration
or the people your are drinking mate with. It can be considered as of the infusion. It consists of a neck or tube
food value or as a companion for idle hours. It is popoular among with a filter at one end and a mouth nozzle
students, groups of friends, family gatherings and workmates. It is at the other end. The bombilla, as we know
an element of communion and a welcome sign for those offered
it today, dates from the 18th [Link] use
a warm mate drink at someone’s house.
of thermos bottles, instead of kettles, to pour
water into the mate gourd, was a Uruguayan
Mate is usually shared by several people in a group and everyobdy
drinks from the same mate gourd and the same metalic straw, initiative that enabled mate drinking to be
which are passed from one person to the other. This is a distinct taken outside people’s homes. This is the reason why
characteristic of mate which makes it quite different from coffe or in Uruguay it is very common to drink mate in the most
tea. diverse public places and this habit has become one of
the most typical images of Uruguay’s citizen landscape.
