While waiting for one of my sessions to begin this afternoon, I had the opportunity to learn a little more about Mate... the ubiquitous Mate gourd and thermos were not foreign to the teacher candidates, and one of them shared her Mate with me, while others gave me the low-down:
I also learned that to cure a mate gourd, one should fill it with mate and hot water, and let it stand for some time (3-5 days). Then it is ready to be used for drinking. In general, "mate suave" is tastier; care should also taken to brew using water at the correct temperature. Water which is too hot may burn the mate leaves.
Mate apparently curbs appetite; poorer families may only have one meal a day, and drink lots of mate the rest of the day.
- don't touch the straw!
- you drink the whole cup before passing back to person
- only pass back to the person who has the hot water
I also learned that to cure a mate gourd, one should fill it with mate and hot water, and let it stand for some time (3-5 days). Then it is ready to be used for drinking. In general, "mate suave" is tastier; care should also taken to brew using water at the correct temperature. Water which is too hot may burn the mate leaves.
Mate apparently curbs appetite; poorer families may only have one meal a day, and drink lots of mate the rest of the day.