Mate[lower-alpha 1] (/ˈmɑːteɪ/MAH-tay, Spanish: [ˈmate], Portuguese: [ˈmatʃi]) is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused herbal drink. It is also known as chimarrão[lower-alpha 2] or cimarrón,[lower-alpha 3] and ka’ay in Guarani.[2] It is made by soaking dried yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) leaves in hot water and is traditionally served with a metal straw (bombilla) in a container typically made from a calabash gourd (also called the mate), but also made from a cattle horn (guampa) in some areas. A very similar preparation, known as mate cocido, removes some of the plant material and sometimes comes in tea bags. Today, mate is sold commercially in tea bags and as bottled iced tea.
Mate has been originally consumed by the Guaraní and Tupi peoples, native from South America. After European colonization, it was spread to different people and became later the national beverage of Argentina,[3] Paraguay and Uruguay and is also consumed in the Bolivian Chaco, Brazil and Northern and Southern Chile. It was later introduced to Lebanon and Syria, where it was brought from Paraguay and Argentina by immigrants.[4][5]
Accessories
The metal straw is known as a bombilla or bomba and is traditionally made of silver. Modern straws are typically made of nickel silver, stainless steel, or hollow-stemmed cane. The bombilla functions both as a straw and as a sieve. The submerged end is flared, with small holes or slots that allow the brewed liquid in, but block the chunky matter that makes up much of the mixture. A modern bombilla design uses a straight tube with holes or a spring sleeve to act as a sieve.[6]
The container the mate is served in is also known as mate.[lower-alpha 4] It is commonly made from calabash gourd but may also be made out of other materials.
Mate was first consumed by the indigenous Guaraní who live in what is now Paraguay, southeastern Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay,[1][9][10][11][12] and was also spread by the Tupí people who lived in neighbouring areas. After, it was commercialised to part of southern Brazil and northeast Argentina, mostly some areas that were Paraguayan territory before the Paraguayan War.[citation needed] Therefore, the scientific name of the yerba mate is Ilex paraguariensis. The consumption of yerba mate became widespread with the European colonization in the Spanish colony of Paraguay in the late 16th century, among both Spanish settlers and indigenous Guaraní, who consumed it before the Spanish arrival. Yerba mate consumption spread in the 17th century to the Río de la Plata and from there to Peru and Chile.[13] This widespread consumption turned it into Paraguay's main commodity above other wares such as tobacco, cotton and beef. Aboriginal labour was used to harvest wild stands. In the mid-17th century, Jesuits managed to domesticate the plant and establish plantations in their Indian reductions in the Argentine province of Misiones, sparking severe competition with the Paraguayan harvesters of wild strands. After their expulsion in the 1770s, the Jesuit missions– along with the yerba mate plantations– fell into ruins. The industry continued to be of prime importance for the Paraguayan economy after independence, but development in benefit of the Paraguayan state halted after the Paraguayan War (1864–1870) that devastated the country both economically and demographically.
Brazil then became the largest producer of mate. In Brazilian and Argentine projects in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the plant was domesticated once again, opening the way for plantation systems. When Brazilian entrepreneurs turned their attention to coffee in the 1930s, Argentina, which had long been the prime consumer, took over as the largest producer, resurrecting the economy of Misiones Province, where the Jesuits had once had most of their plantations. For years, the status of largest producer shifted between Brazil and Argentina.[14]
As of 2018, Argentina was the largest producer with 56–62%, followed by Brazil, 34–36%, and Paraguay, 5%.[15] Uruguay is the largest per capita consumer, consuming around 19 liters per person per year.[16]
Name
The English word comes from the Frenchmaté and the American Spanish mate, which means both mate and the vessel for drinking it, from the Quechua word mati for the calabash gourd used to make it.[17][18]
Both the spellings "maté" and "mate" are used in English. The acute accent indicates that the word is pronounced with two syllables, like café (both maté and café are stressed on the first syllable in the UK), rather than like the one-syllable English word "mate".[19] An acute accent is not used in the Spanish spelling, because the first syllable is stressed. The Yerba Mate Association of the Americas points out that, in Spanish, "maté" with the stress on the second syllable means "I killed".[1]
In Brazil, traditionally prepared mate is known as chimarrão, although the word mate and the expression "mate amargo" (bitter mate) are also used in Argentina and Uruguay. The Spanish cimarrón means "rough", "brute", or "barbarian", but is most widely understood to mean "feral", and is used in almost all of Latin America for domesticated animals that have become wild. The word was then used by the people who colonized the region of the Río de la Plata to describe the natives' rough and sour drink, drunk with no other ingredient to sweeten the taste.
Mate has a strong cultural significance for both national identity and society. Yerba mate is the national drink of Paraguay, where it is also consumed with either hot or ice cold water (see tereré);[20] Argentina;[21] and Uruguay. Drinking mate is a common social practice in all of the territory of Paraguay and Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, southern Chile, and eastern Bolivia. Throughout the Southern Cone, it is considered to be a tradition taken from the Guaraní people and drank by the gauchos or vaqueros, terms commonly used to describe the old residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, southeastern Bolivia, southern Chile and southern Brazil. Argentina has celebrated National Mate Day every 30 November since 2015.[22]
Parque Histórico do Mate, funded by the state of Paraná (Brazil), is a park aimed to educate people on the sustainable harvesting methods needed to maintain the integrity and vitality of the oldest wild forests of mate in the world.[23][24]
Mate is also consumed as an iced tea in various regions of Brazil, originating both from an industrialized form, produced by Matte Leão, and from artisanal producers. It is part of the beach culture in Rio de Janeiro, where it is widely sold by beach vendors;[25] the hot infused variation being uncommon in the area.
The preparation of mate is a simple process, consisting of filling a container with yerba, pouring hot, but not boiling, water over the leaves, and drinking with a straw, the bombilla, which acts as a filter so as to draw only the liquid and not the yerba leaves. The method of preparing the mate infusion varies considerably from region to region, and which method yields the finest outcome is debated. However, nearly all methods have some common elements. The beverage is traditionally prepared in a gourd vessel, also called mate in Spanish and cuia (= gourd) in Portuguese, from which it is drunk. The gourd is nearly filled with yerba, and hot water,[26] typically at 70 to 85°C (158 to 185°F), never boiling,[27] is added. The drink is so popular within countries that consume it, that several national electric kettle manufacturers just refer to the range 70 to 85°C on its thermostat as "mate" temperature.[citation needed]
The most common preparation involves a careful arrangement of the yerba within the gourd before adding hot water. In this method, the gourd is first filled one-half to three-quarters of the way with yerba. Too much yerba will result in a "short" mate; conversely, too little yerba results in a "long" mate, both being considered undesirable. After that, any additional herbs (yuyo, in Portuguese jujo) may be added for either health or flavor benefits, a practice most common in Paraguay, where people acquire herbs from a local yuyera (herbalist) and use the mate as a base for their herbal infusions. When the gourd is adequately filled, the preparer typically grasps it with the full hand, covering and roughly sealing the opening with the palm. Then the mate is turned upside-down, and shaken vigorously, but briefly and with gradually decreasing force, in this inverted position. This causes the finest, most powdery particles of the yerba to settle toward the preparer's palm and the top of the mate.
Once the yerba mate has settled, the mate is carefully brought to a near-sideways angle, with the opening tilted just slightly upward of the base. The mate is then shaken very gently with a side-to-side motion. This further settles the yerba mate inside the gourd so that the finest particles move toward the opening and the yerba is layered along one side. The largest stems and other bits create a partition between the empty space on one side of the gourd and the lopsided pile of yerba on the other.
After arranging the yerba along one side of the gourd, the mate is carefully tilted back onto its base, minimizing further disturbances of the yerba as it is re-oriented to allow consumption. Some settling is normal, but is not desirable. The angled mound of yerba should remain, with its powdery peak still flat and mostly level with the top of the gourd. A layer of stems along its slope will slide downward and accumulate in the space opposite the yerba (though at least a portion should remain in place).
All of this careful settling of the yerba ensures that each sip contains as little particulate matter as possible, creating a smooth-running mate. The finest particles will then be as distant as possible from the filtering end of the straw. With each draw, the smaller particles would inevitably move toward the straw, but the larger particles and stems filter much of this out. A sloped arrangement provides consistent concentration and flavor with each filling of the mate.
Statue of a man serving mate, in Posadas, Misiones, Argentina
Now the mate is ready to receive the straw. Wetting the yerba by gently pouring cool water into the empty space within the gourd until the water nearly reaches the top, and then allowing it to be absorbed into the yerba before adding the straw, allows the preparer to carefully shape and "pack" the yerba's slope with the straw's filtering end, which makes the overall form of the yerba within the gourd more resilient and solid. Dry yerba, though, allows a cleaner and easier insertion of the straw, but care must be taken so as not to overly disturb the arrangement of the yerba. Such a decision is entirely a personal or cultural preference. The straw is inserted with one's thumb and index finger on the upper end of the gourd, at an angle roughly perpendicular to the slope of the yerba, so that its filtering end travels into the deepest part of the yerba and comes to rest near or against the opposite wall of the gourd. It is important for the thumb to form a seal over the end of the straw when it is being inserted, or the air current produced in it will draw in undesirable particulates.
Brewing
After the above process, the yerba may be brewed. If the straw is inserted into dry yerba, the mate must first be filled once with cool water as above, then be allowed to absorb it completely (which generally takes no more than two or three minutes). Treating the yerba with cool water before the addition of hot water is essential, as it protects the yerba mate from being scalded and from the chemical breakdown of some of its desirable nutrients. Hot water may then be added by carefully pouring it, as with the cool water before, into the cavity opposite the yerba, until it reaches almost to the top of the gourd when the yerba is fully saturated. Care should be taken to maintain the dryness of the swollen top of the yerba beside the edge of the gourd's opening.
Once the hot water has been added, the mate is ready for drinking, and it may be refilled many times before becoming lavado (washed out) and losing its flavor. When this occurs, the mound of yerba can be pushed from one side of the gourd to the other, allowing water to be added along its opposite side; this revives the mate for additional refillings and is called "reformar o/el mate" (reforming the mate).
Mate is traditionally drunk in a particular social setting, such as family gatherings or with friends. The same gourd (cuia/mate) and straw (bomba/bombilla) are used by everyone drinking. One person (known in Portuguese as the preparador, cevador, or patrão, and in Spanish as the cebador) assumes the task of server, which most of the time is the house owner in family gatherings. Typically, the cebador fills the gourd and drinks the mate completely to ensure that it is free of particulate matter and of good quality. In some places, passing the first brew of mate to another drinker is considered bad manners, as it may be too cold or too strong; for this reason, the first brew is often called mate del zonzo (fool´s mate). The cebador possibly drinks the second filling as well, if they deem it too cold or bitter. The cebador subsequently refills the gourd and passes it to the drinker to their right, who likewise drinks it all (there is not much; the mate is full of yerba, with room for little water), and returns it without thanking the server; a final gracias or obrigado (thank you) implies that the drinker has had enough.[28] The only exception to this order is if a new guest joins the group; in this case the new arrival receives the next mate, and then the cebador resumes the order of serving, and the new arrival will receive theirs depending on their placement in the group. When no more tea remains, the straw makes a loud sucking noise, which is not considered rude. The ritual proceeds around the circle in this way until the mate becomes lavado (washed out), typically after the gourd has been filled about 10 times or more depending on the yerba used (well-aged yerba mate is typically more potent, so provides a greater number of refills) and the ability of the cebador. When one has had one's fill of mate, they politely thank the cebador, passing the mate back at the same time. It is impolite for anyone but the cebador to move the bombilla or otherwise mess with the mate; the cebador may take offense to this and not offer it to the offender again. When someone takes too long, others in the round (roda in Portuguese, ronda in Spanish) will likely politely warn them by saying "bring the talking gourd" (cuia de conversar); an Argentine equivalent, especially among young people, being no es un micrófono ("it's not a microphone"), an allusion to the drinker holding the mate for too long, as if they were using it as a microphone to deliver a lecture.
Some drinkers like to add sugar or honey, creating mate dulce or mate doce (sweet mate), instead of sugarless mate amargo (bitter mate), a practice said to be more common in Brazil outside its southernmost state. Some people also like to add lemon or orange peel, some herbs or even coffee, but these are mostly rejected by people who like to stick to the "original" mate. Traditionally, natural gourds are used, though wood vessels, bamboo tubes, and gourd-shaped mates, made of ceramic or metal (stainless steel or even silver) are also common, as are vessels made from cattle horns. The gourd is traditionally made out of the porongo or cabaça fruit shell. Gourds are commonly decorated with silver, sporting decorative or heraldic designs with floral motifs. Some gourd mates with elaborated silver ornaments and silver bombillas are true pieces of jewelry and are sought after by collectors.
Column chart displaying Benzo(a)pyrene concentration in processed yerba mate leaves sampled in 2006, 2008, and 2010:
2006 batches
2008 batches
2010 batches
Traditional preparation of yerba mate leaves involves smoking them and for this reason they contain a high number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), such as benzo(a)pyrene, which are carcinogenic.[29] It has been suggested that this may explain cancers associated with mate consumption, such as lung and bladder cancer, that cannot be attributed to its hot temperature. Instead, the hot temperature of mate (above 65°C) is specifically linked to oesophageal cancer.[30] However, the occurrence of PAHs in mate leaves and infusion is based on small studies with non-representative sampling.[31] In any case, the use of mate with potentially lower PAHs content, such as unsmoked mate, has been suggested as a preventive approach.[29][30]
Brazilian-style chimarrão
Other properties
Mate is a rich source of caffeine. On average, mate tea contains 92mg of chlorogenic acid per gram of dry leaves, and no catechins, giving it a significantly different polyphenol profile from other teas.[32][33]
According to Argentine culture in part promoted by marketers, the stimulant in mate is actually a substance called mateína (named after the drink). However, analysis of the active chemicals in mate has found that mateína does not exist.[34]
The Guaraní people started drinking mate in a region that currently includes Paraguay, southern Brazil, southeastern Bolivia, northeastern Argentina and Uruguay. They have a legend that the Goddesses of the Moon and the Cloud came to visit the Earth one day. An old man saved them from a yaguareté (jaguar) that was going to attack them. The goddesses gave him a new kind of plant, from which he could prepare a "drink of friendship" as compensation for his actions.[12]
There various types of yerba mate used to make the drink, depending on the processing and composition. Some key types include:
Con Palo - a mix of stems and ground leaf
Sin Palo - despalada: without stems or very little stem content
Compuesta - Mixed with other herbs and plants, like mint
Saborizada - in which the leaf has been flavored with flavorings and food additives
Para Tereré - made specifically for tereré, usually with other herbs like mint etc
Barbacuá - toasted mate
Cocido/Saquitos - bagged, similar to tea bags
Another drink can be prepared with specially cut dry leaves, very cold water, and, optionally, lemon or another fruit juice, called tereré. It is very common in Paraguay, northeastern Argentina and in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. After pouring the water, it is considered proper to "wait while the saint has a sip" before the first person takes a drink. In southern Brazil, tererê is sometimes used as a derogatory term for a not hot enough chimarrão.
In Uruguay and Brazil, the traditional gourd is usually big with a corresponding large hole. In Argentina (especially in the capital Buenos Aires), the gourd is small and has a small hole and people sometimes add sugar for flavor.
In Uruguay, people commonly walk around the streets toting a mate and a thermos with hot water. In some parts of Argentina, gas stations sponsored by yerba mate producers provide free hot water to travelers, specifically for the purpose of drinking during the journey. Disposable mate sets with a plastic mate and straw and sets with a thermos flask and stacking containers for the yerba and sugar inside a fitted case are available.
In Argentina, mate cocido (boiled mate), in Brazil, chá mate, is made with a tea bag or leaves and drunk from a cup or mug, with or without sugar and milk. Companies such as Cabrales from Mar del Plata and Establecimiento Las Marías produce tea bags for export to Europe.[35]
Mate is consumed as an ice tea in various regions of Brazil, in both artisanal and industrial forms. This is a bottle of industrialized mate ice tea, bought from a local supermarket in Rio de Janeiro.
Travel narratives, such as Maria Graham's Journal of a Residence in Chile, show a long history of mate drinking in central Chile. Many rural Chileans drink mate, in particular in the southern regions, particularly Magallanes, Aysén and Chiloé.
In Peru, mate is widespread throughout the north and south, first being introduced to Lima in the 17th century. It is widespread in rural zones, and it is prepared with coca (plant) or in a sweetened tea form with small slices of lemon or orange.[36]
In some parts of Syria, Lebanon and other Eastern Mediterranean countries, drinking mate is also common. The custom came from Syrians and Lebanese who moved to South America during the late 19th and early parts of the 20th century, adopted the tradition, and kept it after returning to Western Asia. Syria is the biggest importer of yerba mate in the world, importing 15,000tons a year. Mostly, the Druze communities in Syria and Lebanon maintain the culture and practice of mate.[4][5]
According to a major retailer of mate in San Luis Obispo, California, by 2004, mate had grown to about 5% of the overall natural tea market in North America.[37][38] Loose mate is commercially available in much of North America. Bottled mate is increasingly available in the United States. Canadian bottlers have introduced a cane sugar-sweetened, carbonated variety, similar to soda pop. One brand, Sol Mate, produces 10-US-fluid-ounce (300ml) glass bottles available at Canadian and U.S. retailers, making use of the translingual pun (English 'soul mate'; Spanish/Portuguese 'sun mate') for the sake of marketing.[39]
In some parts of the Southern Cone bitter mate is preferred, especially in Paraguay, Uruguay, the south of Brazil, and parts of Argentina and Bolivia. This is referred to in Brazil and a large part of Argentina as cimarrón–which also an archaic name for wild cattle, especially, to a horse that was very attached to a cowboy– which is understood as unsweetened mate.[40] Many people are of the opinion that mate should be drunk in this form.
Unlike bitter mate, in every preparation of mate dulce, or sweet mate, sugar is incorporated according to the taste of the drinker. This form of preparation is very widespread in various regions of Argentina, like in the Santiago del Estero province, Córdoba, Cuyo, and the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires, among others. In Chile, this form of mate preparation is widespread in mostly rural zones. The spoonful of sugar or honey should fall on the edge of the cavity that the straw forms in the yerba, not all over the mate. One variation is to sweeten only the first mate preparation in order to cut the bitterness of the first sip, thus softening the rest. In Paraguay, a variant of mate dulce is prepared by first caramelizing refined sugar in a pot then adding milk. The mixture is heated and placed in a thermos and used in place of water. Often, chamomile (manzanilla, in Spanish) and coconut are added to yerba in the gumpa.
In the sweet version artificial sweeteners are also often added. As an alternative sweetener, natural ka'á he'é (Stevia rebaudiana) is preferred, which is an herb whose leaves are added in order to give a touch of sweetness. This is used principally in Paraguay.
The gourd in which bitter mate is drunk is not used to consume sweet mate due to the idea that the taste of the sugar would be detrimental to its later use to prepare and drink bitter mate, as it is said that it ruins the flavor of the mate.[41]
Materva is a sweet, carbonated soft drink based on yerba mate. Developed in Cuba in 1920, and produced since the 1960s in Miami, Florida, it is a staple of the Cuban culture in Miami.[42][43]
↑ Known as mate or a guampa in Spanish, or cuia or cabaça in Brazil.
Related Research Articles
Argentine cuisine is described as a blending of cultures, from the Indigenous peoples of Argentina who focused on ingredients such as humita, potatoes, cassava, peppers, tomatoes, beans, and yerba mate, to Mediterranean influences brought by the Spanish during the colonial period. This was complemented by the significant influx of Italian and Spanish immigrants to Argentina during the 19th and 20th centuries, who incorporated plenty of their food customs and dishes such as pizzas, pasta and Spanish tortillas.
Yerba mate or yerba-maté is a plant species of the holly genus Ilex native to South America. It was named by the French botanist Augustin Saint-Hilaire. The leaves of the plant can be steeped in hot water to make a beverage known as mate. Brewed cold, it is used to make tereré. Both the plant and the beverage contain caffeine.
Misiones is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest.
A caffeinated drink, or caffeinated beverage, is a drink that contains caffeine, a stimulant that is legal practically all over the world. Some are naturally caffeinated while others have caffeine added as an ingredient.
Tereré is an infusion of yerba mate prepared with cold water, a lot of ice and pohá ñaná, and in a slightly larger vessel. This infusion has its roots in Pre-Columbian America, which established itself as traditional during the time of Governorate of Paraguay. There's also a variant made with juice, called "Juice tereré" or "Russian tereré", depending on the region. On December 17, 2020, UNESCO declared the tereré of Paraguay as an intangible cultural heritage, which includes the drink (tereré) and its preparation methods with medicinal herbs.
A bombilla (Spanish), bomba (Portuguese) or massasa (Arabic) is a type of drinking straw, used to drink mate. In metal bombillas, the lower end is perforated and acts as a metal filter which is used to separate the mate infusion from leaves, stems, and other mate debris, and functions in a similar fashion to the perforated metal screen of a teapot. Filters can be removable and can be opened for cleaning, or they may be permanently fixed to the bombilla stem. Bombillas vary in length but a popular length is approximately 7 inches (18 cm) long.
Sopa paraguaya is a traditional food of the Paraguayan cuisine similar to corn bread, spongy and soft. Corn flour, cheese, onion and milk or whey are common ingredients. It is a cake rich in caloric and protein content.
Uruguayan cuisine is a fusion of cuisines from several European countries, especially of Mediterranean foods from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. Other influences on the cuisine resulted from immigration from countries such as Germany and Scotland. Uruguayan gastronomy is a result of immigration, rather than local Amerindian cuisine, because of late-19th and early 20th century immigration waves of, mostly, Italians. Spanish influences are abundant: desserts like churros, flan, ensaimadas yoo (Catalan sweet bread), and alfajores were all brought from Spain. There are also various kinds of stews known as guisos or estofados, arroces, and fabada. All of the guisos and traditional pucheros (stews) are also of Spanish origin. Uruguayan preparations of fish, such as dried salt cod (bacalao), calamari, and octopus, originate from the Basque and Galician regions, and also Portugal. Due to its strong Italian tradition, all of the famous Italian pasta dishes are present in Uruguay including ravioli, lasagne, tortellini, fettuccine, and the traditional gnocchi. Although the pasta can be served with many sauces, there is one special sauce that was created by Uruguayans. Caruso sauce is a pasta sauce made from double cream, meat, onions, ham and mushrooms. It is very popular with sorrentinos and agnolotti. Additionally, there is Germanic influence in Uruguayan cuisine as well, particularly in sweet dishes. The pastries known as bizcochos are Germanic in origin: croissants, known as medialunas, are the most popular of these, and can be found in two varieties: butter- and lard-based. Also German in origin are the Berlinese known as bolas de fraile, and the rolls called piononos. The Biscochos were re-christened with local names given the difficult German phonology, and usually Uruguayanized by the addition of a dulce de leche filling. Even dishes like chucrut (sauerkraut) have also made it into mainstream Uruguayan dishes.
Vori vori is a thick, yellowish soup with little balls made of corn flour, and cheese. It is a traditional dish within Paraguayan cuisine. It is derived from the matzah balls of the Ashkenazi cuisine but incorporating corn instead of wheat flour, an ingredient taken from the Cario indigenous people.
The chipa guasu is a cake made with corn grains, onions and Paraguayan cheese. It is one of 70 varieties of chipa, a traditional set of side dishes from Paraguay. It is often served in asados.
Matte Leão is a Brazilian infusion and tea brand, now owned by The Coca-Cola Company. The spelling Matte is archaic, but preserved in the trademark; the currently correct Portuguese spelling for the herb and the derived beverage is mate. Matte Leão offers a range of over 100 types of infusions.
Mate cocido, chá mate, kojoi, or yerbiado is an infusion typical of Southern Cone cuisine. It is traditionally prepared by boiling yerba mate in water, then strained and served in cups. It is a bitter tasting beverage, similar to mate but milder, with the same stimulating and nutritional properties. It is also sold in teabags, so it can be prepared like tea.
Paraguayan Argentines are Argentine citizens of predominantly or total Paraguayan descent or Paraguay-born people who reside in Argentina. Paraguayan people comprise an important ethnic group in the country due to the sustained immigration that gained importance in the 1970s. The number of people born in Paraguay living in Argentina has been estimated to be about 550,000. Therefore, it is the largest foreign community in the country outnumbering individuals from Italy and Spain. It is also one of the fastest growing foreign nationalities. Despite all this, its numbers have been undercounted so it is believed that the real amount is even much higher.
The history of yerba mate stretches back to pre-Columbian Paraguay. It is marked by a rapid expansion in harvest and consumption in the Spanish South American colonies but also by its difficult domestication process that began in the mid 17th century and again later when production was industrialized around 1900.
Paraguayan cuisine is the set of dishes and culinary techniques of Paraguay. It has a marked influence of the Guaraní people combined with the Spanish cuisine and other marked influences coming from the immigration received by bordering countries such as Italian cuisine and German cuisine. The city of Asunción is the epicenter of the distinctive gastronomy that extends in current Paraguay and its areas of influence, which is the reason why is considered the mother of the gastronomy of the Río de la Plata. It is worth clarifying that in the Paraguayan society, the exchange of knowledge between mestizos, creoles and cario-guaraní people occurred before the Jesuit missions.
The Argentine tea culture is influenced by local and imported varieties and customs. The country is a major producer of tea, but is best known for the cultivation and consumption of mate, made with the leaves of the local yerba mate plant.
Brazilian tea culture has its origins in the infused beverages, or chás, made by the indigenous cultures of the Amazon and the Río de la Plata basins. It has evolved since the Portuguese colonial period to include imported varieties and tea-drinking customs.
Establecimiento Las Marías is a renowned company specializing in the production and packaging of infusions, particularly tea and yerba mate. For over 100 years, Las Marías has been a trusted source for products such as Taragüi, Unión, La Merced, and Mañanita.
Sopa correntina is a traditional food of the Corrientes Province and part of the Chaco Province, a product of the absorption of the Guaraní culture and mainly of Paraguay. Its invention is attributed to the typical Sopa paraguaya.
1 2 Barceloux, Donald (3 February 2012). Medical Toxicology of Drug Abuse: Synthesized Chemicals and Psychoactive Plants. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN978-1-11810-605-1.
↑ Del Techo, Ximénez, Dobrizhoffer, Nicolás, Bartolomé, Martín (1967). Tres encuentros con América, Asunción, p. 40. editorial del Centenario.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
1 2 Preedy, Victor R. (2013). Tea in Health and Disease Prevention. Academic Press. pp.165–6. ISBN9780123849373. The Indians known as the Guarani began drinking yerba mate in the region that now includes Paraguay, southern Brazil, southeastern Bolivia, Northeastern Argentina and Uruguay.
↑ Although the order of spelling variants in dictionaries is not necessarily meaningful in any particular case, Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, the Oxford English Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, the Random House Dictionary of the English Language and Lexico.com all give the accented form "maté" before the unaccented form "mate", or refer the reader to see "maté" if they look up "mate".
↑ Conran C, Conran T, Hopkinson S (2001). The Conran Cookbook. Conran-Octopus. ISBN978-1-84091-182-4.
↑ "¡Al gran mate argentino salud! 30 de noviembre: Día Nacional del Mate en la Argentina". INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE LA YERBA MAT. Retrieved 25 January 2021. El Congreso de la Nación Argentina, sancionó en diciembre de 2014 la Ley 27.117, la cual establece que el día 30 de noviembre de cada año se celebre el "Día Nacional del Mate", en homenaje al caudillo Andrés Guacurarí y Artigas, conocido popularmente como "Andresito".
↑ Wong, Samantha. "Materva: Un Buchito de Cuba"(PDF). Johnson and Wales: Student Food Writing. p.8 (PDF p.11). Archived from the original(PDF) on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
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