Yerba Mate is a traditional Paraguayan recipe for a the classic drink of yarba mate made with cold and then just off the boil water. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Paraguayan version of: Yerba Mate.
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Yerba mate or yerba maté Ilex paraguariensis, is a plant species of the holly genus 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.
Mate is traditionally consumed in central and southern regions of South America, primarily in Paraguay, as well as in Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Brazil, the Gran Chaco of Bolivia, and Southern Chile.
The infusion, called mate in Spanish-speaking countries and chimarrão in Brazil, is prepared by filling a container, traditionally a small, hollowed-out gourd (described below), up to three-quarters full with dry leaves (and twigs) of I. paraguariensis, and filling it up with water at a temperature of 70–80 °C (160–175 °F), hot but not boiling. Sugar may or may not be added. The infusion may also be prepared with cold water, in which case it is known as tereré.[
Traditional yerba mate is made with a gourd and a bombilla (a metal straw).
Ingredients:
dried yerba mate leaves
Method:
Pack dry yerba mate leaves into the gourd until it's just over half full.
Cover the top of the gourd with your hand, turn it upside down, and shake it.
Turn the gourd on its side and shake some more.
Turn the gourd upright and place the bombilla inside.
Pour in just enough cold water to saturate the leaves.
Add hot (but not quite boiling) water.
Drink the yerba mate through the bombilla (do not be tempted to stir with the bombilla).
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