Shared Mate
A bitter, full-bodied infusion of yerba mate leaves, drunk through a bombilla (filtering straw) from a gourd, traditionally shared in turns among friends.
A bitter, full-bodied infusion of yerba mate leaves, drunk through a bombilla (filtering straw) from a gourd, traditionally shared in turns among friends.
I take mate everywhere — to Barcelona, Paris, in the locker room before playing. It's not just a drink, che: you fill the gourd with yerba, you tilt it, you pour water that's hot but never boiling, and you pass it around. The one who serves, the cebador, drinks the first, most bitter one. It's something that connects you to your loved ones, even thousands of kilometers from Rosario. You offer me a mate and we're almost friends already.
- •Dried yerba mate — enough to fill the gourd three-quarters full (infusion)
- •Hot water (70–80 °C) — depending on number of rounds (infusion without burnt bitterness)
Shared Mate
A bitter, full-bodied infusion of yerba mate leaves, drunk through a bombilla (filtering straw) from a gourd, traditionally shared in turns among friends.
Why this dish? Messi is inseparable from his thermos and his mate gourd: he drinks it before and after matches, while traveling, and he has been seen arriving with mate in hand at all his clubs. It is his daily, concrete link to Argentina, wherever he is in the world.
I take mate everywhere — to Barcelona, Paris, in the locker room before playing. It's not just a drink, che: you fill the gourd with yerba, you tilt it, you pour water that's hot but never boiling, and you pass it around. The one who serves, the cebador, drinks the first, most bitter one. It's something that connects you to your loved ones, even thousands of kilometers from Rosario. You offer me a mate and we're almost friends already.
Ingredients (period version)
- Dried yerba mate — enough to fill the gourd three-quarters full (infusion)
- Hot water (70–80 °C) — depending on number of rounds (infusion without burnt bitterness)
Ingredients
- Yerba mate — 30–40 g (¾ of the gourd) (base)
- Hot, not boiling water — 70–80 °C, a thermos (infusion)
- Gourd (mate) and bombilla — 1 set (ritual utensils)
Method
- Fill the gourd three-quarters full with yerba.
- Cover the opening with your hand, turn the gourd upside down to shake out the fine powder, then set it upright, tilting the yerba to one side.
- Pour a small amount of warm water into the hollow to moisten, let it swell for a moment.
- Insert the bombilla into the moistened part without moving it afterward.
- Pour hot water (never boiling) always in the same spot and drink until you hear the slurping sound.
- Refill with water and pass around: each person drinks the entire gourd before returning it to the server.
How it was made : Mate is a heritage of the Guaraní people, adopted and widely spread since colonial times in the Río de la Plata basin. Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is cultivated and roasted there; sharing the gourd is a strong social code in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
The contemporary twist : Mate cocido in tea bags or tereré (iced mate with cold water and citrus juice) for a refreshing version, great for sports recovery in summer.
Lionel Messi · Charactorium
