Maté recipe

Created by Diana Pinon

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Cuisine: South American

This drink is a way of life in some parts of South America. Served in a gourd with a metal straw (a bomba or bombilla). This super strong tea is an acquired taste. Brewed from the dried leaves and small stems of the native "Yerba Mate" tree, its ancient, medicinal properties make it hugely popular.

Ingredients

Dried leaves and small stems of the native 'Yerba Mate' tree

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Preparation

Uruguayans drink their maté very, very hot, which means it is very bitter. The Argentineans prefer theirs cooler. It is an acquired taste but rumour has it that after three times you will be accustomed to the comforting flavour. The hotter the water and the longer you let it sit before you drink it, the more bitter the taste will be.

To prepare the maté, place the dried, minced leaves into the maté cup, and moisten with cool water. Let that sit for a minute or so. Next add hot water, below boiling, approximately 70C. This is called "cebar el Maté". The infusion is sucked through a metal pipe called a "bombilla," which has a strainer at its lower end to prevent the minced leaves from reaching the mouth.

Fill the maté cup with the maté to ½ or 2/3 (the more maté the stronger) of its capacity. A variation that will give you more tea per infusion and a less potent taste is to fill the cup only 1/4 way, or even a little less than that.

Moisten the Yerba Maté with lukewarm water – wait for a 30 seconds to one minute.
Pour hot water in until it nearly fills the cup. Some of the leaves remain dry, floating on the top, but they will eventually absorb water in subsequent infusions. The hotter the water the stronger the brew. It’s best to add hotter water after a few infusions.
Let it stand a few seconds and replenish with hot water when the previous one is absorbed by the dry maté leaves.

When the water is not absorbed anymore, close the bombilla's "mouthpiece" with your thumb and insert it firmly into the maté. This will trap the air and keep the maté from getting through the strainer.

You can drink and replenish the maté with hot water many times until the liquid comes out with almost no taste.

If you enjoyed this Maté recipe then browse more South American recipes, beverage recipes, easy recipes and our most popular hainanese chicken rice recipe.

South American Restaurants

Displaying 10 of 41 South American Restaurants.

	Restaurant	Book Online	Suburb
1.	Sporting Club Hotel		Brunswick
2.	Brazilian Touch Restaurant & Bar		Milton
3.	Enris Restaurant		Hawthorn
4.	BlueFire Churrascaria Grill & Bar		Docklands
5.	Bodega		Surry Hills
6.	El Gaucho		Fitzroy North
7.	Favela		Potts Point
8.	Fiesta on Oxford		Bondi Junction
9.	Churrasco		Coogee
10.	LuLo		Hawthorn

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