The Argentine tea culture is influenced by local and imported varieties and customs. The country is a major producer of tea (Camellia sinensis), but is best known for the cultivation and consumption of mate, made with the leaves of the local yerba mate plant.
When Jesuit missionaries first came to Argentina, they tried to ban the popular indigenous tea, yerba mate , out of concern about its addictive qualities. They ultimately reversed their stance and began cultivating yerba mate on plantations in the Misiones province in particular (and elsewhere in South America), until the expulsion of the religious order from the Americas in 1767 during the Suppression of the Society of Jesus. [1]
The first varieties of non-native tea to be grown in colonial Argentina were introduced from Russia in 1920. [2] Beginning in 1924, the Argentine government urged farmers to experiment by planting tea seeds that the government imported from China and then distributed to interested farmers. Farmers tested the cultivation of this tea in the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, Formosa, Chaco and Tucuman. Immigrant farmers also experimented with planting imported tea on their land. Low prices for tea on the world market dampened farmers' enthusiasm for imported tea crops, however. [3] This tea was also considered inferior to foreign teas. Therefore, domestic production was small prior to 1951, when Argentina's government imposed a ban on imported tea. Tea remained a popular beverage, so the demand led to increased cultivation of local tea. In 1952, new tea plantations were established in Misiones Province in northeastern Argentina, growing a better quality tea than had been cultivated previously. Increased demand for tea led in turn to more farmers cultivating it . [2] Argentina has expanded its export market over the decades, reaching its current status as the ninth largest tea-producer worldwide. [4]
Argentina is an important tea-producing nation, the world's ninth-largest tea producer as of 2005 with estimated annual production of 64,000 metric tons. [4]
The Argentine regions with the largest concentration of tea cultivation are the highlands of the Misiones and Corrientes provinces in northeastern Argentina, where the climate is hot and humid. The major plantations are on relatively flat land where highly mechanized production can occur. The growing season for tea is from November to May. [2] [5] The teas from Argentina today are some of the least expensive in the world and they are mainly used for processing into ready-to-drink (RTD) and iced tea, given their deep color and brisk taste. [6]
Tea exports from Argentina total about 50 million kilograms annually. Argentine tea is primarily used for blending. The largest export market is the United States, where the majority of consumption is for iced tea. The United Kingdom and other parts of Europe also are markets for the country's tea. [2] Although Argentina is responsible for majority of the nations tea production for export across the globe, only about 5 percent of the production is consumed locally. The 78,000 mt (metric tons) that was exported in 2015 represents 4 percent of the total world tea exports and they go to a well diversified range of customers with the main buyer being the US, which purchased 55,300 mt of tea from Argentina in 2015. [7] The tea production as well as trade, in Argentina is only expected to increase from now into the future, as the nation is becoming more aware of the developing tea business.
Mate is a tisane, or herbal tea, that is popular in Argentina as well as in Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Mate is the Quechuan word for "gourd". [8] Mate is served in a hollow gourd (or occasionally a horn or a hoof), [9] and drunk through a metal straw called a bombilla. This serving style originated with a native culture, the Guarani. The Guarani called the yerba mate plant Caa'. [10] Indigenous peoples made bombilla straws from hollow cane, and made a filter at the end with vegetable fibers; today's bombilla straws, although made of metal, retain the filter feature at the end that is submerged in the gourd. [8]
An elaborate ritual exists for sharing mate:
The cebador [server] pours water slowly as he or she fills the gourd. The gourd then passes clockwise, and this order, once established, continues. A good cebador will keep the mate going without changing the yerba for some time. Each participant drinks the gourd dry each time. [11]
The French Society of Hygiene explained yerba mate [12] by saying, "Yerba Mate raises morale, sustains the muscular system augments strength and allows one to endure privations. In a word, it is a valiant aid." Considered to have medicinal properties by the indigenous South Americans, Mate has a range of active compounds. It has antioxidant and cholesterol-lowering properties, and contains vitamins C, B1, and B2. [13] Colonists and other outsiders observed that gauchos of Argentina and adjoining countries subsisted on a diet of little more than meat and mate without developing scurvy. [11] [14] Mate developed a reputation as a healthy beverage that helped spread its popularity. [15] Mate drinking is widespread in Argentina today. Every year, Argentines consume an average of 5 kg of mate per person. [11] It is a popular morning beverage, due to its high caffeine content. Mate tea served in a traditional gourd cup should never be stirred with the straw; doing so is considered poor etiquette in Argentine tea culture. [9] It is also considered poor manners to wipe the bombilla when sharing mate. [16]
Alternative styles of mate are also popular in Argentina. The beverage called mate cocido is simply yerba mate brewed in a tea bag, similar to Asian style tea, and served with milk or sugar. Mate cocido is a less bitter variation on the traditional mate drink. Orange peels and hot milk added to the yerba mate create a beverage called mate de leche con cascarita de naranja. [1]
A museum dedicated to the history of yerba mate is located in Tigre, near Buenos Aires. [17]
The southernmost region of Argentina, Patagonia, and the town of Gaiman in particular, are known for several traditional Welsh tea houses popular with tourists. The tea houses were established by Welsh people who emigrated to Argentina seeking cultural freedom during a time in the 19th century when the Welsh language was suppressed in Great Britain. The Welsh tea customs are similar to those practised throughout Great Britain and Ireland, with tea being served at approximately 4:00 p.m., the tea beverage being mixed with milk and sugar and consumed alongside cakes and pastries, the most popular of which being the 'torta negra galesa', or Welsh black cake. The interior of the tea houses are decorated with family heirlooms and ornamental kitchenware that bear Welsh names and writings in order to increase authenticity, as well as a gift shop for tourists. While inside, traditional Welsh music is typically played in the background, and larger groups of visitors may be treated to a live Welsh choral singing performance. [18] [19] [20] [21]
A combination of British tea culture and Argentine cuisine can be found in some establishments in Buenos Aires, where tea is served in the late afternoon following the British custom. Traditional British tea varieties such as Earl Grey are served with scones, tarts and finger sandwiches, or the customer's selection from a tea menu of Argentine dishes such as asado de tira (beef ribs). [22] Other options include tereré, an infusion of mate made with cold water instead of warm, and locro, a thick bean stew. [23]
Young Argentines' tastes in tea beverages are increasingly influenced by global retail trends. Argentine consumers can purchase Moroccan mint tea or Chinese green tea as well as more traditional varieties. In a concession to Argentine tea culture, when Starbucks opened its first outlet in Argentina, it announced that it would include a mate latte drink on its menu. [24]
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 led to cultural blending of criollos, Indigenous, and sub-Saharan African in the cuisine. Later, 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.
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.
A drinking straw is a utensil that is intended to carry the contents of a beverage to one's mouth. Disposable straws are commonly made from plastics. However, environmental concerns related to plastic pollution and new regulation have led to rise in reusable and biodegradable straws. Following a rise in regulation and public concern, some companies have even voluntarily banned or reduced the number of plastic straws used. Alternative straws are often made of reusable materials like silicone or metal or alternative disposable and biodegradable materials like paper, cardboard, pasta, or bamboo.
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.
The history of tea spreads across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. With the tea plant Camellia sinensis native to East Asia and probably originating in the borderlands of southwestern China and northern Myanmar. One of the earliest accounts of tea drinking is dated back to China's Shang dynasty, in which tea was consumed as a medicinal drink. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo. It first became known to the western world through Portuguese priests and merchants in China during the early 16th century. Drinking tea became popular in Britain during the 17th century. The British introduced commercial tea production to British India, in order to compete with the Chinese monopoly on tea by stealing green tea leaves from China, transporting them by train/road, resulting in them being fermented and thought fermented tea is the tea drunk in China. Hence the tea drank in the West is mostly fermented and not green fresh tea.
Tea culture is defined by how tea is made and consumed, how people interact with tea, and the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking.
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.
Mate or maté is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused herbal drink. It is also known as chimarrão or cimarrón, and ka’ay in Guarani. It is made by soaking dried yerba mate leaves in hot water and is traditionally served with a metal straw in a container typically made from a calabash gourd, but also made from a cattle horn 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.
Swedish Argentines are Argentine citizens of Swedish descent, as well as Swedish-born people who reside in Argentina. The history of Swedish settlement in Argentina took place principally in the mid to late 19th century, when Swedish people arrived in Argentina. Many Swedes came to Argentina for economic reasons and in order to start a new life. Swedes also helped build Argentina, in particular helping to build Argentina's railroads in the mid 19th century.
Tea is a popular drink throughout Turkey and the Turkish diaspora. Turkey has the highest per capita tea consumption in the world with an annual total consumption of over 3 kilograms per person. Turkey is a large exporter of tea, ranking fifth among the top exporting countries. Tea plays a big role in social gatherings that take place in tea houses and gardens. It is also used as a herbal medicine. Turkish tea culture extends to Northern Cyprus and some countries in the Balkan Peninsula. Turkish tea has a long and expansive history that shaped its harvesting even before the founding of the modern Turkish Republic. Since its introduction to Turkey, tea has become a large part of Turkish culture.
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 all 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 facturas 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.
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.
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.
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.
Mexican tea culture is known for its traditional herbal teas which are reputed to have medicinal properties. In recent decades, imported tea beverages have also become popular in Mexico. Mexican tea recipes have grown in popularity beyond Mexico as well.
Establecimiento Las Marías is a company specializing in infusions, It develops them all the way from plant to package. It is a source of tea, and its lands are the producers of yerba mate. Taragüi, Unión, La Merced and Mañanita are some of the products that has been relying on over 85 years in the market.
CBSé is an Argentinian brand of yerba mate that has been in the market for more than forty years. It was the first brand to create yerba mate compuesta, which is a mix of yerba mate and herbs. The company produces different types of yerba mate as well as other related products.
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