Last week I learnt how to prepare a traditional Argentinean Mate. Allow me to share with you this simple recipe to drink at any time...


For those that don’t know it yet, mate is a typical drink in Argentina. It is similar to tea, with a dark green color and brewed from a plant called “yerba”.


You obtain this especial drink just by adding hot water to the yerba leaves held in a seasoned gourd (the 'mate' container). You will also add sugar to the yerba if you like it sweet, though traditionally is drunk without it. For me is rather too bitter, so I recommend adding sugar.





You will drink mate through a metal or wooden straw called “bombilla” and you will refill the mate with hot water when it runs out of it.


Generally, mate is drunk as a coffee and tea alternative. It is always shared with somebody else, since it is a social ritual. The mate is passed to each participant in turns. The mate will do several circuits before it is deemed washed out (lavado). Then, someone usually adds more leaves and starts a new round of mate. Passing the mate around is a typical ritual, anywhere and at any time!

All this was accessible from the http://www.easygolanguages.com/study-abroad/Spanish/Argentina/Cordoba">Cordoba Language Program