I was just reading Sten Cedergren's book a chapter of which details his time on a cattle ranch in Argentina.

He talks about a "tea" called yerba mate which he claimed had a lot of great properties. Reduced the uric acid levels associated with a diet high in animal protein.

Doing a little "google" research, it also looks like is has one of the highest antioxidant values of any plant.

Is this as popular as some folks claim in South America? Almost sounds like a wonder elixar.

I know it is popular here in the States. I drink it quite often.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc_Stokeld:
I know it is popular here in the States. I drink it quite often.

I wouldn't guess that in my whole life !! Thou I have been several times to the States I never saw nor thought the mate was rather common there ... another good thing we have to thank to the globalization

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Manion:
I was just reading Sten Cedergren's book a chapter of which details his time on a cattle ranch in Argentina.

He talks about a "tea" called yerba mate which he claimed had a lot of great properties. Reduced the uric acid levels associated with a diet high in animal protein.

Doing a little "google" research, it also looks like is has one of the highest antioxidant values of any plant.

Is this as popular as some folks claim in South America? Almost sounds like a wonder elixar.

In here (South America) the mate is a stage much further than being popular ... I would say it is essential.

In many poor villages mate and bread is the only food some folks might have (yerba mate is the plant and mate is the infusion made from this plant, cut in tiny pieces)

I am not a big mate drinker by myself (I am a coffee man) but in many places the mate is almost a way to communicate with the residents... it's a tradition, as said almost a way to comunicate with other ones ... many messages can be undertood from the way a mate is offered to you, even it is so or not ... and from those significances you could have a pretty good idea about what the other person feels and thinks about you ... I might add that wherever you go hunting (talking mainly about open country hunting zones) the hunt would not start before a mate is shared with you and the owner of that ranch you happen to be hunting in... and if he indeed offered you a mate, you can be almost sure that there you have almost a friend who trust you ... it is a sort of saying "welcome to my home, this is what I got, hope you enjoy and care about it as much as I do"

Mate and asado are the biggest traditions down here , and I can assure you that both of them have an special & unique taste when you are enjoying them amongst friends and far away from the cities ....

Almost forgot... the mate is known in this latitudes long before the spanish colonization, who learnt about its mere existance by the "guaranies" an indian tribe who lived here in a zone that would be nowadays understood as the place where Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay meet their boundaries ....

Yerba mate. To duplicate it go to a nearby cattle ranch, scoop up as much of the dried grass and hay you can find, adding a bit of dried cow pie, and pack it into a cup. Pour in boiling water, stick in a straw and sip.

I have been offered mate and did sip some to be polite, but.......

There are two things in Argentina I could not ingest. Yerba Mate and blood sausage. But I guess one could develop a taste.....

Bill

Something tells me that our friends in South America have just planned the menu for your next trip!

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Manion:
Bill

Something tells me that our friends in South America have just planned the menu for your next trip!

Nooooo, how can you even imagine that !!!

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:
Yerba mate. To duplicate it go to a nearby cattle ranch, scoop up as much of the dried grass and hay you can find, adding a bit of dried cow pie, and pack it into a cup. Pour in boiling water, stick in a straw and sip.

I have been offered mate and did sip some to be polite, but.......

There are two things in Argentina I could not ingest. Yerba Mate and blood sausage. But I guess one could develop a taste.....

Blood sausage is a rather impressive way to call it (and you won't ever like to know which other "things" are mixed up with this mentioned blood ) ... I prefer to call it "morcilla"

All you have to do to develop that taste is to have enough hunger !!!

Actually is not that bad at all ... but I admit it can be much tasty depending in which place you are when eating it, since our mind is less demanding in certain zones far away from civilization , but be sure that you are being offered it by a trustable guy whenever you might try to taste it again, since it can be done with ingredients you won't believe it possible to be used in an supposedly eatable product

You are being too hard with your definition about the mate, Bill ... actually there are maaaaany types of yerba mate, some are good, some are better, some are just dry grass ... and some are just like the one you tasted

Who gave it to you ? Was it Juan ?

The different possible sources from where the water used came, can change its taste quite a bit aswell ...

Give yourself another opportunity with the mate, Bill ... the morcilla is in fact quite impressive and needs a strong stomach to deal with, but the mate is almost sacred here !

I tried mate in many places including Juan's and Alberto's.....I prefer a good Malbec....now the morcilla is another story. It is not so much the taste, or what it is made of, but the consistency. When you bite down on it, there is no firmness, your teeth just seem to melt into the sausage. This was made for people with no teeth as a way to give them protein. But I will try it all again. The other sausage I enjoyed in Argentina was all quite good. A small slice of mortilla, a sip of mate, finished with 2 pounds of costillas from the parilla, a crusty bread, maybe a good chimichurri, and a good red wine.....life does not get better.....

Also PHC mentions the Matè as an warm up before hunting the Jabàlis , and it sounds good i must try it when i have gotten some clinets and going over on the trip.

I have always liked tea as the system now can`t handle coffee so good as it used to before due to surgery last year.

here in the US it can be found at most stores that sell "organic" food and other "natural" products. I drink the kind that has a smoey taste to it and it is very good

I´m not a mate drinker, but I´ve always been looked at with strange faces by the "gauchos". Anyway, you honorary Argentines from other countries like Bill, should know that there is a third and more important matter to be solved before being fully acknowledged as a "criollo": you must be a fan of a soccer team. There are many, two being the biggest and others more modest, but any Argentine has a soccer team in his heart. By the way, same with Uruguayans.

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:
I tried mate in many places including Juan's and Alberto's.....I prefer a good Malbec....now the morcilla is another story. It is not so much the taste, or what it is made of, but the consistency. When you bite down on it, there is no firmness, your teeth just seem to melt into the sausage. This was made for people with no teeth as a way to give them protein. But I will try it all again. The other sausage I enjoyed in Argentina was all quite good. A small slice of mortilla, a sip of mate, finished with 2 pounds of costillas from the parilla, a crusty bread, maybe a good chimichurri, and a good red wine.....life does not get better.....

Bill, you forgot the cow pie. Do you take that al la mode or au jus?

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Manion:

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:
I tried mate in many places including Juan's and Alberto's.....I prefer a good Malbec....now the morcilla is another story. It is not so much the taste, or what it is made of, but the consistency. When you bite down on it, there is no firmness, your teeth just seem to melt into the sausage. This was made for people with no teeth as a way to give them protein. But I will try it all again. The other sausage I enjoyed in Argentina was all quite good. A small slice of mortilla, a sip of mate, finished with 2 pounds of costillas from the parilla, a crusty bread, maybe a good chimichurri, and a good red wine.....life does not get better.....

Bill, you forgot the cow pie. Do you take that al la mode or au jus?

Dried, like biltong..... Let's keep in touch. I am going to try to get to the Dallas SC
show again in 2008. Last year I did not get out to meet with any of the AR guys; it was pouring rain.

Bill-actually it was pouring ice! We went boar hunting right after the show. 20 degrees F with about 6 inches of snow and ice in the Texas Hill Country. With a nice wind to boot.

Sounds like a plan!

It gets a little time to get used to but after that you can't live without a good mate in the mornings, before lunch, at evening and around a fire at any hour !!!

In Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil we drink it with hot water, in Paraguay because the hot weather they drink it with very cold water (water with ice in the vacums) and they call it Tereré (guaraní name), been there done that, is a great relief when is your turn (usually is shared between several people) because it makes you feel fresh and stronger.

You can add several plants to make it better and some of them are medicinals.

It's a local version of the english tea and a close relative of the marihuana

This one is cannabis cannabis and the yerba mate is cannabis nativa.

L

Jim
SGraves155 can tell you how to drink mate, and its properties, I told him how to prepare a good mate, he takes with him fresh Yerba Mate and a complete set to drink it, may be you could share it?
SGraves155 is just coming back from a great safari with us; let’s wait for his report…..
www.Huntinginargentina.com.ar

Willy, got back home 30 hrs ago, and have had 12 hours of sleep, then started drinking the Mate, and have accomplished much more today than I normally would. And that's with only 8 or 10 cups of Mate!

Good, Stephen continue with mate, when it runs off, I will send more, keep on going in good shape to hunt in our wild northen provinces; next time in flying camps.
Alberto G. Foerster
www.huntinginargentina.com.ar
www.fishinargentina.com.ar

Stephen, you are a braver man than I. You probably like the morcilla as well. Well, with your "encouragement" I shall try it once again.
Perhaps with a nice shot of Bushmill's to follow.....

And Willy, remind me once again of that very nice cordial we enjoyed with a bit of ice and soda.

quote:

Perhaps with a nice shot of Bushmill's to follow.....

Irish Mate? Sounds like you're on to something there, Bill!

I am going to give it a try (non Irish version). Where does one get a proper gourd and bombilla?

Yes, Bill that good refreshment or aperitif is called Gancia (the trade mark) well know here in Argentina, nice to drink it with ice, soda and a bit of lemon.

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:
Stephen, you are a braver man than I. You probably like the morcilla as well. Well, with your "encouragement" I shall try it once again.
Perhaps with a nice shot of Bushmill's to follow.....

And Willy, remind me once again of that very nice cordial we enjoyed with a bit of ice and soda.

Dear folks: the vermouth (the Gancia is a brand of vermouth) has a high degree of alcohol, like you very well know.

I tried some w. dinner last night -- tasted for all the world like Wrigley's Spearmint gum, and I couldn't sleep, and had weird dreams... I think I'll wait until I managed to get to Ar before I try some again...

OK. Got some Yerba. Based on some of the comments here I found a seller that takes the stems our and uses a finer cut on the leaves.

The pre make sniff test - definitely different. A hint of a alfalfa smell. Not like cow pies as Bill described, but does not smell like tea.

Next step - being "gourdless" and "bombilla-less", got out the French press. Apparently, this is a fairly popular method of brewing the tea in North America.

Didn't want to toast the leaves with boiling water, so used cold tap water to cover just the leaves and let it sit for a few minutes. Boiled some water and let it sit for a couple minutes. Put the hot water in the press and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

It is ready! And it pours out - - brown? Actually, a very dark green? No, brown, with some green tint. Never drank something of this shade before. The closest I came was drinking green Obi beer in Korea on Saint Patrick's day during my all expense paid trip courtesy of Uncle Sam. After an evening of the green Obi, I was rudely awakened at 4 AM (about an hour after my head hit my pillow - where did the time go?) for an alert. The alert was in full chemical and biological weapons gear (the MOPP suit). After 4 hours in full MOPP gear (charcoal impregnated clothing that does not breathe), my suit smelled like the main OBI brewery. I later found out the Koreans inject formaldehyde into the beer to get it to ferment faster. That was just was well, because by 9 the next morning I felt like I was going to die.

I hope this Yerba is not like Obi beer.

The taste - definitely different. Not bad. A hint of feedlot to it. But not bad.

Second cup - so far, have not grown an additional eye in my forehead. And I have no desire to run naked around the yard. This stuff isn't bad. No strong urge yet for blood sausage.

I'll report back on any after effects. So far, so good.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Manion:
The taste - definitely different. Not bad. A hint of feedlot to it. But not bad.

You have make me remember a story of a very brave gaucho who was famous for chasing every single woman in the area.

When he get old he start saying that before dying he will have sex with a man just to compare.

One day he arrived to the bar where he use to play cards and with serious voice he said to his friends...I have been with another man...it's different...I don't like it..but is not so bad..

The story was told to me as a real event but who knows...

L

quote:

Originally posted by Lorenzo:

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Manion:
The taste - definitely different. Not bad. A hint of feedlot to it. But not bad.

You have make me remember a story of a very brave gaucho who was famous for chasing every single woman in the area.

When he get old he start saying that before dying he will have sex with a man just to compare.

One day he arrived to the bar where he use to play cards and with serious voice he said to his friends...I have been with another man...it's different...I don't like it..but is not so bad..

The story was told to me as a real event but who knows...

L

Jim.....some things are not worth trying....

Bill-so true!

quote:

When he get old he start saying that before dying he will have sex with a man just to compare.

I'll never be that old or that curious - why mess with a good thing?

I can eat just about anything, including morcilla (but I, too, didn't like it, not the texture, just the taste of old blood) and I've tried mate numerous times. I can sip with the best of them, but that doesn't mean I've got to like it. Anyone who is curious can get the same basic taste by scooping up some moldy grass cuttings from you lawn (with or without a touch of the local canine population depending on how authentic you want it to taste) and you'll be real close. Morcilla, bah, Mate, pah, same thing for grown men chasing a little round ball around. Luckily for all concerned, the Southern Cross women tend to be on the opposite end of the pleasure scale.