Mate is a traditional South American caffeinated infused drink made from steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water. According to a Guaran鱈 legend, a goddesses gifted the plant to an old man who saved them, to make a "drink of friendship". It is prepared by filling a gourd container with yerba mate leaves and pouring hot but not boiling water over it. There are various traditions for preparing and drinking mate throughout South America, including bitter mate, sweet mate, milk mate, and terer辿, which is mate served over ice, often with orange juice.
2. Legendary origins
The Guaran鱈 people started drinkingmate
in a region that currently includes
Paraguay, southern Brazil, southeastern
Bolivia, northeastern Argentina and
Uruguay.
3. The Guaran鱈 have a legend that says the
Goddesses of the Moon and the Cloud came to
the Earth one day to visit it, but they instead
found a yaguaret辿 (jaguar) that was going to
attack them. An old man saved them, and, in
compensation, the goddesses gave the oldman
a new kind of plant, from which hecould
prepare a "drink of friendship".
4. Is a traditional South American caffeine-
rich infused drink, particularly in Argentina,
where it is defined by law as the "national
infusion.
6. Its a very simple process which consists of filling the gourd
with yerba, pouring hot but not boiling water over the leaves,
and drinking with a straw, the BOMBILLA, which acts as a
filter soas to draw only the liquid andnot the yerba leaves.
Preparation
Themethodofpreparingthemate
infusionvariesconsiderablyfrom
regiontoregion,andwhichmethod
yieldsthefinestoutcomeisdebated.
However,nearlyallmethodshave
somecommonelements.
The beverage is traditionallyprepared in a gourd recipient, also
called mate, fromwhich it is drunk. The gourd is nearly filledwith yerba,
and hot water (typically at 70 to 85 属C, never boiling) is added.
7. Variants of drinkingMATE
BitterMATE:many people think that MATE should be
sugarless,consideringsweet mate as a kind ofprofanation.
SweetMATE:It is regarded by traditionalistsasa false mate ,
and the difference isthat in each barley sugar is incorporatedto
suit the drinker ; alsoused when children are present round.
This form of preparationis widespreadin Argentina.
8. MilkMATE:Thedifferencewith bittermate is that
instead ofpriming with water, it isdonewith milk
and sugar. This varianthas the disadvantageof not
being ableto easilycleanthe straw and mate.
Mate with other herbs:its possibleto addother
herbs to the infusion soas to givethe mate a
differenttaste orwith medicinalpurpose.
9. Terer辿:it consistsof putingin the mateor in amug
(in caseyou dont want to usethe mate) yerbamate
in 他of therecipient,andaddsomeicetoo.Then
you preparea jarofjuice(commonlyorangejuice).
Fresherthejuice,moredeliciousthe terer辿is. In
Argentinapeopleis usedto drinkiton summer
becauseofits refreshingeffect.
10. Mate cocido:in this case,yerbamateisboiledin
w叩ter,strainedandservedin a cup.Milkcan be
added,lots ofpeopledoit. Todaya day,you canfind
mate cocidobags (liketea bags)in supermarkets,it
makesit aloteasier.Thisinfusi坦n is oftenreplacing
coffeeon mornings or afternoons.
ThereareotherVariantsthat arelesscommon,such
as gaseosa(likea soda)andbeer.Both madeout
of yerba mate.