This morning I started my day with the biggest breakfast change since I gave up bacon for low fat hamburgers. Gone is my well-known a beloved oversized coffee cup, and it is place is the very Uruguayan Maté (gourd into which the Yerba tea is poured) complete with a brand new metal bombilla.
Because yerba maté (the tea and the gourd) is so popular in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, there are many different styles of matés from which to choose. Being the clumsy sort, I asked for one with the legs firmly attached to decrease the chances of spilling both the tea and the tea leaves all over my keyboard. So my maté is not fancy–it is simply a workman-like gourd with four well braced feet attached and a metal rim around the top to further prevent me from breaking it.
I understand there is some arcane process for preparing the gourd for use, but since I am not yet a Uruguayan citizen, it is illegal for me to know the secret. I think is involves snippets of ritual from the Freemasons, the now extinct (or nearly so, depending upon with whom you speak) Charrua Indians, and probably a bit from the 16th century Rituale Romanum.
Starting the day with yerba maté is quite an evolution for me (and we all know how much I dislike that concept). No doubt some of you will remember my description of the taste of mate in my book as similar to “cigarette ashes”.
The main reason for changing was simply that I thought drinking maté might be healthier for me than consuming a liter of coffee every morning. Certainly, there appears to be a consensus that maté is superior. But then, there was once a consensus that Saint Joan of Arc was a witch a needed to be burned at the stake…
For the sake of accuracy, I must point out that in many situations, yerba maté can be extremely dangerous. More than a few Uruguayos bear the scars from this danger.
The primary danger from yerba maté is not the chemical that supplies the stimulation in place of caffeine, it is from the darned thermos bottle that is invariably carried by maté drinker crooked in their left arm (unless they are southpaws).
More than once, some holding a maté in one hand and a thermos in their arm has leaned over to give me an abrazo and poured boiling water on me–once day they even managed to scald my dog Harry. This is not fun! Now, when someone approaches me with a thermos in their arm, I stiff arm them like a Notre Dame lineman and hope that my exposed arm doesn’t get burned…
Maybe it is a hold over from the concept of “the survival of the fittest”?
Hello Mr. Southron:
Could you expound a little more on the reason for switching from coffee to Yerba tea? Even though in your previous descriptions of the taste and rigamarole that one has to go through in order to brew and use the tea. What is the real reason for switching? Don’t get me wrong I’m all for trying new things and if the end product ( can justify means ) increases the energy level with out the jittery result of drinking coffee; I want to give it a go. Hopefully, I’ll be able to experience it first hand when I get there in November. I’ll have a 4 hour wait at the BA airport before catching a flight to MVD; is there any place in BA to get a good yerba maté close to the airport? Or, should I wait until I get to MVD?
Thanks,
Muffterry
Left by muffterry on September 20th, 2008
David, better go away before you become completely Uruguayan! Drinking mate is the first step; before you know Borko will be driving you in a 1976 FIAT with a piece of iron wire instead of the original radio anthena.
Now, if you insist in staying, let me give you a couple of tips:
1) It’s not “maté” but “mate”. It’s pronounced stressing “ma”, not “te”.
2) If you grab the gourd with the same hand where you wear your watch, pass the gourd to the other hand whenever you’re asked for the time.
Left by Alberto on September 22nd, 2008
David- I’ll give you 3 weeks before you are back to coffee. Before moving here, we read about the extensive benefits of Maté. I was so impressed that we bought some leaves and also a maté and bombilla (though even after viewing all of the videos on the subject was too much trouble). Having decided to brew and consume this healthy alternative to coffee was our plan.
Let us know how long you keep it up……
Left by Wally Glass on September 24th, 2008
Oh man, I can’t stop laughing!
Being an avid mate drinker myself, if you were willing to crack the mate code (anyone who bears a hot water burning on his skin is entitled to it), I’d be delighed to provide detailed step-by-step guidance in English on how to:
* buy the best wooden mate (not bacteria-prone gourd),
* ‘tan’ (curar) the mate prior to first use,
* ‘feed’ (cebar) the mate (i.e. pour water in order to drink) without having it ‘washed’ (i.e. lavado, or undrinkably tasteless),
* take appropriate care of mate gadgetry in order to prolong taste and avoid bacteria
* reveal the right water temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (NEW)
This for free, if you promise to remove the tilde (´) from the word mate in future posts.
I mean it. izmir2 (at) hotmail dot co dot uk
Left by izmir2 on September 30th, 2008