Mate of the Round (cimarrón)
A gourd filled with roasted yerba mate leaves, onto which hot but not boiling water is poured, and sipped through a bombilla (filtering straw). Bitter, herbaceous, invigorating: it is passed from hand to hand, each drinking in turn from the same gourd.
A gourd filled with roasted yerba mate leaves, onto which hot but not boiling water is poured, and sipped through a bombilla (filtering straw). Bitter, herbaceous, invigorating: it is passed from hand to hand, each drinking in turn from the same gourd.
Come closer, sir, and take the gourd as I was taught on the banks of the Paraná. This leaf — the Ilex I have so often botanized and am striving to acclimatize at Santa Ana — is roasted, then ground, before pouring hot water over it — never boiling, mark my words, lest you spoil its noble bitterness. Sip gently through the silver tube, and pass me the gourd when you have drunk: here we share mate as elsewhere we share bread, and I confess that at my age it serves me as coffee, tobacco, and good company all at once.
- •Roasted and crushed yerba mate leaves — a good handful (base of the infusion)
- •Spring water — as needed (infusion, hot but not boiling)
Mate of the Round (cimarrón)
A gourd filled with roasted yerba mate leaves, onto which hot but not boiling water is poured, and sipped through a bombilla (filtering straw). Bitter, herbaceous, invigorating: it is passed from hand to hand, each drinking in turn from the same gourd.
Why this dish? Bonpland devoted years to the study and cultivation of the Paraguay holly (Ilex paraguariensis) on his estate at Santa Ana, Corrientes. No plant is more intimately linked to his second life as an exiled naturalist.
Come closer, sir, and take the gourd as I was taught on the banks of the Paraná. This leaf — the Ilex I have so often botanized and am striving to acclimatize at Santa Ana — is roasted, then ground, before pouring hot water over it — never boiling, mark my words, lest you spoil its noble bitterness. Sip gently through the silver tube, and pass me the gourd when you have drunk: here we share mate as elsewhere we share bread, and I confess that at my age it serves me as coffee, tobacco, and good company all at once.
Ingredients (period version)
- Roasted and crushed yerba mate leaves — a good handful (base of the infusion)
- Spring water — as needed (infusion, hot but not boiling)
Ingredients
- Yerba mate (from grocery or South American aisle) — 50 g (fill gourd 2/3 full) (base)
- Water — about 200 ml per serving (infusion at 70-80 °C)
Method
- Fill a gourd (or mug) two-thirds full with yerba mate.
- Cover the opening with your hand, turn upside down and shake to bring the leaf dust to the surface, then right the gourd while tilting the yerba to one side.
- Heat water to 70-80 °C (just before simmering) — never let it boil.
- First moisten the hollow with a little warm water, let it swell for a minute, then insert the bombilla (or a filtering straw) without moving it further.
- Pour hot water along the bombilla and drink; refill with water and pass the gourd from drinker to drinker.
How it was made : In the 19th century, mate was drunk everywhere in the Río de la Plata basin, from estancias to Guaraní missions. Yerba was harvested from wild yerbales, dried over fire (barbacuá), crushed, and transported in barrels. Bonpland was one of the first European scientists to seriously study its botany and rational cultivation.
The contemporary twist : For palates new to bitterness, slip a few dried orange peels or a mint leaf into the gourd — a 'composed' mate still enjoyed today in northern Argentina.
Aimé Bonpland · Charactorium