YERBA MATÉ

I could not live in Paraguay and omit to write about Yerba Maté (pronounced "yerba mah'tay.")

La "Yerba," as they call it here, is made with the leaves and stem of the bushy tree Ilex paraguarensis.  It has been used for centuries by the Guarani Indians who claim that the plant has many properties: stimulant to the central nervous system, diuretic, and antirheumatic.  I take the "curing" properties of Yerba Maté with a grain of salt and I suspect that the diuretic properties are directly related to the amount of water that goes with every drink.  This said, it is a healthy drink and an essential part of dietary customs in this country where coffee and tea are a luxury.

The chemical composition of the Yerba Maté is close to that of green tea, with xanthines (of the caffeine family), theophylline, and theobromine, stimulants also found in coffee and chocolate. It also contains potassium, magnesium and manganese. Caffeine content varies between 0.3% and 1.7% of dry weight (compare this to 2.5–4.5% for tea leaves, and 1.5% for ground coffee).

The Paraguayans are very attached to their Yerba, as they should, and unlike the Uruguayans and Argentines who have made folklore out of drinking Maté, the locals have remained very traditional and ritualistic.  Here is how "La Yerba" appears throughout the day.

- MATÉ - At daybreak, one prepares the Maté.  In the Guampa (a round gourd-like cup) packed with yerba half or ¾ full, pour very hot (but not boiling) water about half way; wait for the yerba to absorb the water and pour to the top.  Insert the "bombilla" (metallic or wooden straw with built-in strainer) and sip.  The first cup is very strong and bitter and is often sipped by the preparer before passing it around. This is a morning ritual, a time for meditation and contemplation, and one does not eat breakfast until the Maté ritual is finished.

- TERÉRÉ - This is the all-day-long cool drink for some, and a refreshing drink during work break for others.  The guampa for teréré is different from the one for maté.  It is tall and slender, often made of goat horn or Palo Santo wood.  To prepare the teréré, pack the guampa with yerba mate, and prepare a cooler with lots of ice and a little water.  AND ADD "Juju"… these are curative herbs, and it is a science in itself.  You can stop at just about every street corner to buy your "refrescante" and ask the "herbalist" for the plant that will cure you.  Rosemary, ginger, horsetail, malva, rue, valerian, mint, anis, burrito, eucalyptus, stevia, and a hundred more.  The herbalist will prepare its concoction of leaves, stems and roots, put them in a mortar and mash them with a pestel… this is the mix you put in your cooler and let steep all day long.  Pour this on top of the yerba and sip. Some swear by it… I like my Yerba plain, sometimes with rosemary and rosella (hibiscus).  The custom is to pass the guampa around (always in the same unbroken circle) and sip the terere to the last drop.

- Cocido - This is my favorite and my daily breakfast drink.  It has replaced tea and coffee in my book.  I find it stronger than tea without the bitterness, and it gives me the same jolt as coffee without the stomach acidity.  There are many ways to prepare the Cocido Quemado and I plan on videotaping my neighbor making his one of these mornings.  This is the way I prepare mine.  Once a week, I toast a skillet-full of Yerba until really dark and smoking (similar to toasting coffee beans).  Once cooled, I store the "cocido" in a tin can.  To prepare the morning cocido, I fill a nylon tea strainer with 2 tablespoons of toasted yerba and place it on top of a 12-oz tumbler. I pour 10 oz of almost-boiling water and let it steep for 1 minute.  Then, add 2 oz of non-fat milk and some sweetener.  Three of those fill my morning, for a total of 30 oz of water, 6 oz of milk and no sugar, and stave-off my cravings until lunch.

My kids in the US tell me to try it under pressure… they mean to fill the coffee espresso machine with one measure of yerba, and … give it a shot!

YERBA MATE, try it, it's a healthy thing.