Argentina - The companion infusion

Its cultural importance is enormous because it acts as a bonding agent when two or more persons meet who, by drinking from the same vessel, develop links which never materialize with other beverages.

The YERBA MATE is the raw material in the preparation of the infusion simply known as “mate”.  Yerba mate are the dried, ground and seasoned leaves extracted from a shrub that grows in the basins of the Paraná, Uruguay and Paraguay rivers in an area that takes in the boundary region between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Various types of herbs exist, and they differ according to the degree of seasoning and the size of the ground leaves.

The vessel in which the beverage is served is also called mate. This word originated in the indigenous word “mati”, meaning a small gourd. Actually, the gourd, adequately conditioned and cured, can be used as the vessel to prepare the infused mate.

The consumption of mate in our time differs from the uses the Guaraní Indians gave it, who steeped the leaves for days on end and finally drank the concoction as a medicine to cure various diseases or as an energy-providing  stimulant. 

Mate may be taken in different ways. Some prefer to drink it in the traditional way, i.e., the mate “cebado” (steeped mate), for which one needs a vessel made from a gourd, wood or metal and a metal or cane tube with several small perforations at its bottom. The latter acts as both a sieve (to keep the leaves at the bottom) and as a sucking “straw” at the same time. The mate is steeped with warm water, but a cold alternative called "tereré" also exists.     

Other people take mate as if it were a tea. This alternative is called “mate cocido” (cooked mate), the leaves are strained off (the leaves also exist in small bags like tea bags) and, according to personal taste, milk and sugar may be added. At present mate comes with different flavours, like, for example, lemon, orange, mint, semi-bitter, etc.

The consumption of mate goes back to the pre-Columbus era. The Guaraní Indians who inhabited the northern part of Argentina, Paraguay and the south of Brazil were great mate drinkers. But they prepared it with cold water and mixed the leaves  with other aromatic herbs.

The Spanish conquerors liked the stimulating and energizing properties of  the mate, which ended up by replacing the beverages they were accustomed to in Europe. They modified it by  preparing it as an infusion, with warm water and adding sugar.