Mate: The Gaucho's Drink of Choice

You can read a great deal about mate and its extensive folklore in Gauchos and the Vanishing Frontier. (Use the index to locate information quickly). Originally consumed by Indians of the pampas, mate remains a favored beverage of all social classes in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil. The picture at the left shows a gaucho drinking mate from a hollowed-out cow horn.

Mate's caffeine-like "jolt" is double that of coffee, so it makes a great eye-opener. The best mate grows in Paraguay and northern Argentina (a statement sure to touch off nationalist reactions from Brazil and other areas!). Gauchos carry a small tea pot (pava) to heat water for mate. They gathered dried animal dung to fuel a fire. Mate is always shared, everyone drinking from a common cup. The beverage is drunk from a small hollow gourd (also referred to as mate).






However, to protect the fragile gourd, inventive gauchos devised a wide range of coverings, from leather, to snake or fish skin to animal parts. Artisans used every conceivable material as a covering, from gold and silver for ther rich, to wood or even a cow's hoof (See picture below.) The artisanry of the mate continues, with countless variations in materials, decoration, and them.