A WARM GATHERING OF FRIENDS

It is not uncommon for a friend to stop by and depending on what area of the province, state, nation or country you are in.  Most likely you will treat them to some sort of beverage generally cold in summer and warm in winter, though not always the case.  It is a timeless act of sharing and relating through a tradition which takes upon ritualistic proportions on certain parts of the globe, this completely intrigued me.   As I encountered and befriended friends from around the world taken in to their homes and presented with their customs.  I was always awed at the Persian tea times with dates, the Turkish, Ethiopian and Armenian strong coffees, Mexican café de hoya, or the ever popular Asian broad spectrum of teas.  Yet one in particular completely enchanted me like the sirens to Odysseus, for all the history, folklore, mysticism, and other attributes we will discuss this was the yerba mate.

Ilex paraguariensis as the Latin name indicates, is a tropical to sub-tropical shrub standing 12-15 meters tall covering the length of the Parana and Paraguay rivers basins.  In pre-colonial times, The leafs where chewed by native tribesmen which later on adopted an infusion type drink, to this groups the native name is Ka´a.  Later down the road which started to attract my attention was that from post-colonization times of 1595-1630 the sole possession of the dried plant was enough to sentence the possessor with severe penalties.   Given there was an extreme segregation between the different ethnic groups, indigenous infringers of the law where penalized with 100 lashes, while European infringers where penalized with a fine of 100 pesos this was in Paraguay while their southern neighbors in Argentina accepted in it´s capital state of Buenos Aires a similar penalization though this one omitted the lashes and opted only for a more financial contribution from those who broke the law.  In those times the name for the product was Paraguayan tea given that the highest volumes of raw material where produced from the country to which it mentions.  The export was prohibited; the mere action of crossing the yerbatales (wild plantations of the crop) was penalized.  This whole prohibition laws where implemented on the terms that the herb was ¨dangerously addictive¨, and cliché as it might be.  When something is prohibited it arouses the curiosity as to ¨why? ¨ thereby creating a whole underground culture of clandestine gatherings to drink the forbidden tea.  Sound like something familiar doesn´t it? Does a speakeasy ring a bell?  Well to make things even more common to the North American alcoholic prohibitions, as it was the custom to pour gallons of alcoholic beverages down the gutter.  Not to be outdone their South American counterparts where burning sacks filled with the ¨dangerously addictive¨ herb in the central plazas of Asuncion to get a point across.  It wasn´t until year later that the herb rights where granted to the Jesuits priest in the area, whom gifted and trained in botany as part of the curriculum for priesthood, this coupled with their relative close relation with the natives in their attempt to ¨convert¨ them.  Granted them a sort of ethnobotanist approach to the herb and where quick to not only explore the benefits, but also monopolize the cultivation and hence the sale of the same.  Note that until this right to work with the herb was granted by the Paraguayan government to the Jesuits, the herb was solely and exclusively wild collected often by mensues a term generally relating to a field worker in the tropics of northern Argentina and Paraguay.  Often these mensues where Guarani Indians who where pseudo-slaves, enticed by enganchadores (sort of recruitment agents) with promises of: upfront payments, higher wages, a better life, only to realize these promises could not be further from the truth.

After the great success by the Jesuits to domesticate and cultivate the crop, the expansion of the consumption was no surprise.   Expanding to cover most of Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay reaching to neighbors Chile, Bolivia and expanding to the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo the not only quick expansion but highly un-resisted assimilation in to the every day life was astounding.  This quick turn around of events. In such a prompt time frame from being completely scrutinized to highly accepted, appreciated to a level of reverence, across a landscape that surpassed borders, ages, religion, skin color or even social status in that time of age and still continues to do so was and is completely inspiring.  I don´t believe an herb at least in the whole of the Americas in it´s purest form meaning undenatured such as is not the case for Cacao, Tobacco, Vanilla, and a lot of other American originating herbs that we have all come to be familiar with their sub-products, faced such resistance only to inevitably have such resurgence.  No herb in this short list which can very well be expanded has become such an intrinsic part of the every day life, day in and day out and iconic representation of not only a national drink but personal identity.  I can be bold enough to certify that you can take away almost everything from an Argentinean, Uruguayan, Paraguayan; transplant them to another country, take away their accent, customs, believes but don´t dare touch their yerba mate, in the given event that any individual of these nationalities might find themselves with out their favorite drink.  A hard thing to accomplish given globalization and the high Diaspora found of these nationalities across the world, and ability to find a way to make sure they don´t go with out, either through improvisation of making sure half of their suit case is filled to the brim with the precious herb.  For all intent and purpose if this is the case of not having their favorite drink you can be assured that nothing will stimulate their memories, senses uplift their spirit and sooth their soul like a mate, you think teletransportation was only possible in star trek? If you want to be witness find a home sick, mate deprived individual from the nationalities mention and prepare yourself to be amazed.

For this reason Mate completely seduced me, a sucker for ethnic foods and drinks.  My first encounter with the drink was in Follow your heart a pillar in the organic, sustainable, local product movement in the San Fernando Valley.  Back in 98, when browsing through their ever expanding selection of products, I came across a small 1lb sack with the picture of an indigenous looking teenager.  I picked it up and quickly read the information provided, with out much thinking I brought it to the front counter for check out, the cashier redirected me to the gourd and bombilla (metal ¨straw¨) as it was the correct way to drink it. I took it home and ignorant and undirected as I was, I made what to me seemed as the logical way to drink the stuff…. By adding ½ a teaspoon of the herb in the gourd filling it with warm water and stirring with the bombilla which to my defense I had no Idea they made metal straws and the cashier girl also had no clue as to what it actually was.  Then to make things even more comical, I actually drank not only the infusion but the actual herb, chewing on the twigs, and here I was grinning and not certain how people in 3 whole countries could actually find this appealing.  Regardless I was trying to appreciate the moment and believe my self to be a sort of Ernest Hemingway, trying a lost drink of some sort as I knew at those times the drink was no where to be found in most of LA.  Well it wasn´t long before I found my self to be completely ridiculed by professionals as I encountered Argentineans and they where quick to be offended and at the same time completely submerged in a hysteria of laughter at how I prepared and drank their drink. So I was taken under their wings and showed how it´s really done, needless to say then I started to step in the right direction of a long journey to discover this amazing herb and it´s influence.

Later as I had the opportunity to travel to Argentina and no less the actual heart of at least this country yertabal center, in Posadas province of Misiones.  That is where I understood the real meaning of the herb, as it was clear to me the deep psychological and why not spiritual aspect it played in the mass collective of the whole country and adjacent ones.  It was quite comforting to know that I was not the only misfit, as I walked around LA fully equipped with my thermos, yerba, gourd and all traveling necessities, never the less the constant harassment by police officers and odd looks by passing bystanders deter me from limiting my drinking moments to in doors.  As I was surrounded to see legions of people starting from the cab driver to the old and young scattered in their front porches, parks, along the promenade parallel and fit to the contours of the magnificent Parana River.  Every where you looked you where sure to find some one drinking mate, and even more surprising willing to share some with you.  Then as I befriended some locals they where quick to introduce me to the pride of their nation Asado, Football, Women and Mate depending on the region you are in they are most likely to add this list but by the most part the these are common all across the geography of the nation.  Though passionate as they are about all of these sources of great price, none seemed to be to be part of their deeper than national pride as mate, for the simple fact that you could walk in to a heated debate about which football club has the most trophies and their merits to be called ¨the best¨, you can have arguments as to which women are more beautiful the dark haired ones or the blonds, and the Asados well lets just say that is not an every day occurrence, and given the immense physical strain of purchasing coal, building a fire, prepping the meat, cooking it, standing in the heat and so forth not to mention the cost it´s a weekend thing.  While you will ALWAYS find that in between these debates mate stand unassuming in the center of it all, there is even a whole silent language build around the cebado (preparation) temperature, water pouring, mixing of the herb, presentation, order of drinking, returning it to the one responsible for the preparation etc.  then comes the ingredients used when presented to you, to offer a quick example if the mate is offered with cinnamon it means ¨you occupy my thoughts¨, with coffee ¨they forgive you¨, with molasses ¨they are worried about your troubles¨, boiling hot ¨hate¨ so forth down the line.  To know more please click on the word mate language it will redirect you to a Spanish translation of the same.

Then comes all the do´s and don´t some depending on how traditional the person is taking on taboo features, if the mate is too hot where smoke is coming out you don´t blow, to blow on the bombilla is extremely rude, when finished drinking if passed to someone who was not responsible for the preparation the person who received it must kiss the butt of the gourd to avoid bad luck.  How drinking a rustic, to those un accustomed being foreigners unpleasant tasting herb developed such a vivid, complex yet elegant system so interwoven in the essence of whole nations can fall in to all sorts of speculation, even mystical proportions.   Even some of the propositions mention here could be considered by most actual Argentineans as classical, archaic or something done only on the small villages now a day.  Nobody can argue, that you won’t go to a friend’s house or friend of a friend with out being offered a mate, the proportion of the importance of the drink takes on a whole new dimension when you consider that a young boy is considered a man when he warms the water in the kettle and serves his own mate.  Most Argentinean, Uruguayan and Paraguayan males could probably pin point the exact time in their life they crossed this threshold.

Shunting a bit to the scientific cold facts tame is a unique natural cocktail of xhantines, a purine base organic compound.  Classification for most of our friends like caffeine, theobromine, and theophyllite these in mate are oddly found in such a way different to other plants containing caffeine.  Meaning that it doesn´t directly stimulate the central nervous system as we are well aware products like Guarana and Coffee do, rather it has an effect on muscle tissues.   Having a relaxing effect on smooth muscles tissue, hence it´s benefit as a mild to mildly strong laxative on people.  Contrasted with a stimulating effect on the myocardial (heart) muscles, other effects shown are diuretic, antioxidant, appetite suppressant.  It contains decent amounts of the minerals potassium, magnesium and manganese, while is safe to point out even while 3 whole nations of empirical data to back the many benefits of the herb.  Never the less there are always exceptions has I have found people who don´t like the drink, they can´t drink it because it can give extreme acidity, acid reflux, stomach aches, GI alterations.  Others tend to blame the drink for some long term occurrences yet it is safe to point out the culprit actually being our already known friend white refined sugar as it has been my experience that some people add way too much sugar in their mate coupled with ultra sweet pastries.  Given the already stated fact of myocardial stimulation people with heart problems should be careful upon drinking, though I have to say that every heart patient I know has not avoided or even considering eliminating it from their every day consumption.  Though always be careful and aware, given the high amount of xanthenes these also have the common tendency to convert to uric acid in the body so if you suffer or are prone to gout, kidney stones, and diabetes.  Again like I always state be self directed and come to your own personal conclusions beyond what the ¨experts¨ say.  If you have are following a lifestyle which brings you joy and feel you would like to try this drink feel free and try it.

Now as companies such as Guayaki, Kraus and others have made a sincere effort to bring the best of the craftsmanship and compromise of the yerbateros in the countries here mention and expand to every corner of the globe.  Comes in to question, the why? This whole story seemed very interesting and even inspiring, yet when you walk out your door most likely you won´t have the same scenario and you won´t feel compelled to drink day in and day out to what seems almost all day long as the saying goes in Argentina ¨estoy verde¨ meaning ¨I´m green¨ and no they are not converting to no superhero with powers as our childhood friend the hulk.  They simply mean they have had way to much mate, which usually translated to roughly about 1-2 Liters of water used for the preparation an a couple changes of the yerba to make room for a new round.  So with this in mind and knowing the custom is to have your express mate on the go, and assuming that about half of your friends are not mate aficionados you won´t commit to it like they do in south America.  So why even bother writing all this about it and it centralizes around the theme of the article ¨a warm gathering of friends¨ diluted it can translate to the Greek theory of Ataraxia. A state of robust tranquility , through a fulfilling life through surrounding one self with trustworthy and affectionate friends and most important being affectionate, trustworthy and virtuous your self.  We can most relate to a point in our life´s where we spend meaningful moment and a sense of coherence and belonging, usually it was in the presence of friends and or family and usually with food and drink in the middle or in some cases beginning, middle and end with maybe even dessert.  Analogous to the mate phenomenon could probably be the Moroccan mint tea, or the British tea maybe the Coffee in some regions yet the shared commonality is the reason rather than the event it self.  The drink serving as a bridge to connect two shores, in some cases it can even be a life raft meaning it serves as a common ground upon which to pay reverence to the miracles of communication, friendship, respect, love and even anger, dispute and indifference though maybe not the most desirable of sentiments yet they exist and must be acknowledge.   Mate in my personal experience is the embodiment of the power of nature over the power of man, and not in a subjugating form since nature never creates or destroys since it does not share the same ideologies as us but rather it transforms, this is what I mean by it´s power over ours.  The power to transform loneliness in to a party of two while sharing a mate is the essence of power, the power to transform a moment of silence in to a moment of reflection and contemplation is true alchemy of the soul.  So invite some friends over, over mate or over coffee what ever is your choice make it warm in spirit, cheers.

REFERENCES

• ^ Dellacassa, Cesio et al. Departamento de Farmacognosia, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Uruguay, Noviembre: 2007
• ^ http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/duke/chemical.pl?CAFFEINE
• ^ Vazquez, A, Moyna, P. Studies on mate drinking. J Ethnopharmacol 1986; 18:267-272
• ^ Does Yerba Mate Contain Caffeine or Mateine?
• ^ http://www.rain-tree.com/yerbamate.htm
• ^ Mundo Matero – Chemical Features
• ^ Martins F, Noso TM, Porto VB, Curiel A, Gambero A, Bastos DH, Ribeiro ML, Carvalho PD. Maté Tea Inhibits In Vitro Pancreatic Lipase Activity and Has Hypolipidemic Effect on High-fat Diet-induced Obese Mice: Obesity (Silver Spring). 2009 Jun 18.
• ^ Arçari DP, Bartchewsky W, Dos Santos TW, Oliveira KA, Funck A, Pedrazzoli J, de Souza MF, Saad MJ, Bastos DH, Gambero A, Carvalho PD, Ribeiro ML.Antiobesity Effects of yerba maté Extract (Ilex paraguariensis) in High-fat Diet-induced Obese Mice.Obesity (Silver Spring). 2009 May 14
• ^ de Morais EC, Stefanuto A, Klein GA, Boaventura BC, de Andrade F, Wazlawik E, Di Pietro PF, Maraschin M, da Silva EL.J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Sep 23;57(18):8316-24.
• ^ Görgen M, Turatti K, Medeiros AR, et al. (February 2005). “Aqueous

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