A National Addiction

Since I have refered to it more than once in past blog postings, I feel that I must dedicate a brief blog posting to the national addiction of Uruguayans, yerba mate (pronounced mah-te with emphasis on the first sylable). Mate is a plant that grows in Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. Once fully grown, the entire plant (stems, leaves and all) is harvested and tossed into a grinder where it is chopped into tiny little pieces and comes out looking much like loose-leaf black tea. Mate is enjoyed in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and southern Brazil, but not in the form that we are used to seeing in the hip coffee shops in the USA... no, you will never see a Uruguayan drinking a cup of mate with a tinly little teabag as a pick-me-up during coffee break. Instead, having a mate is a shared process with very particular customs.

The yerba mate is poured into a gourd (think hollowed out, dried mini squash) and a long metal straw with a filter on the end is inserted into the mass of leaves. Hot water is then added by the cebador [a word without translation because it specifically refers to the sever of the mate] and the gourd is passed to the drinker who finishes all the water in the gourd and returns it to the cebador. This process is repeaded numerous times as the gourd makes its way around the circle of mate drinkers. It can continue for hours, with the cebador ocassionally changing out the yerba when it looses its flavor, or making more hot water when it runs out.

Uruguayans are known by other mate drinking countries as being the most obsessed with mate. You see them drinking mate in literally every context imaginable- from the super market shoppers, to the gas station attendent, to the joggers on the board walk, nobody is out of mate context. Unlike in Argentina, where mate is more of a tradition shared at home in the early evening, in Uruguay everywhere is a place for drinking mate, and every time of day is mate time. The signature gourd, straw, and thermous appear as extensions of their limbs. There are specific and beautifully crafted leather carrying cases that conveniently hold the thermous, gourd, and yerba container. At any given craft fair a quarter of the tables are devoted to artisinal mate gourds, thermouses and bags. I have even seen people drinking mate while driving (stick shift too!) and, if you can believe it, while riding a bike.

If you're interested in learning more about it you can check out the Wikipedia artcile here. I know many of you have seen me drinking mate, and maybe even tried it before! But for those of you who haven't, I hope this has been an informative post. Thanks for reading!