How to Prepare Mate

Mate
Pronounced “mah-tay,” this beverage is made from yerba mate leaves steeped in hot water drunk from a hollowed-out gourd with a metal
straw. It tastes somewhat like a rustic green tea and it seems there are no situations that don’t call for it: the beach, at home, at soccer
matches, with friends in the park, at the office, etc. It can be drunk with or without sweetener, though for many outsiders as well as some
locals, without may be considered too bitter.

How to Prepare a Mate

1. Fill the gourd ½ to
¾ full with yerba mate.
Cover with your hand and
turn it over a couple of
times to get most of the
mate powder out. Add
sweetener, if desired.
2. Moisten the mate
with a little bit of room
temperature water and let
sit for 30 sec. - 1 min.

 

Eat, Sleep, and Say Like it is

As the saying goes: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Following this logic, when you’re in Argentina, eat, sleep and say it how it is. Below, we have compiled a cheat sheet to clue you in on some of the cultural nuances that make Argentina so very Argentine.

Hellos and Goodbyes
Entering a room full of Argentines takes a while. As is the custom, you should go around and say hello and kiss everyone once on the cheek. Repeat as you leave. And yes, we mean everyone in the room, including babies. If you decide to slink out withoutthe kisses, be aware you run the risk of seeming rude or cold.

Riding High

Riding High

Luke McMahon hits the trail and discovers that even a gringo novice can get in touch with his inner gaucho.

They say some people are born in the saddle.  I'm not one of them.  In fact I'm pretty sure I was born in an armchair.  So it's with trepidation that I climb into the Argentina Mountain four-by-four to meet a real gaucho family and ride for two days in the mountains.

No true gaucho goes very far without his mate, and sure enough our guide Gustavo is passing round the gourd within minutes of hitting the road.  We arrive at the farmhouse near San Carlos full of tea and anticipation.

Nestled amongst a stand of trees on a delta between two cold, clear streams, the homestead is a rustic but cosy adobe-walled home in a dappled oasis of tranquillity.  Vines snake their way over the roof and drape a cool curtain of green foliage from the eaves.  A rooster pecks his way through rays of sunlight across the dusty yard.  Beyond the bubbling drinking-fountain, a field of oregano sways in the breeze.

The Art of Mate

The Art of Mate

They’re everywhere; people with a little pot and straw and the ubiquitous thermos flask.  They sit in-groups, in parks and plazas, on buses, in offices, courtyards and kitchens and Internet cafes.  Wherever there are people there is mate (pronounced mahtay).  Young and old, rich and poor, Gauchos and city slickers, all imbibe the herb and share it like its something sacred, a bonding agent in good and bad times.  Indeed, an offer of mate is an offer of friendship and a signal of acceptance.  It’s the Argentine equivalent of the peace pipe.

What is this strange addiction that has gripped a nation?  Yerba mate is the dried, chopped leaf of llex paraguayensis.  It is also known as ‘Paraguayan tea’.  First drank by the Guaran tribe, it became an important commodity in the Jesuit missions on the upper Rio Parana and subsequently amongst the European waves of immigrants who appreciated it for its qualities as a stimulant. (Strangely, unlike other South American products such as chocolate and cocaine, mate failed to make the journey back across the Atlantic and take hold in Europe. Perhaps its manner of taking was too communal for the increasingly individualist Old World.)