Glossary: yerba mate (mate)

The mate is a South American holly-family tree grown primarily in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay and widely cultivated to make a tealike drink called yerba mate. The leaves and young twigs of this tree are dried, shredded, then typically aged for 1 year in cedar containers before being marketed as yerba mate loose-leaf tea, tea bags or as a bottled drink. South Americans have been sipping this energy-boosting brew for centuries and its popularity has now spread to points around the globe. The traditional South American way to consume yerba mate is to brew it in a hollow gourd (also called mate in Spanish) and share it communally by drinking it through a bombilla, a special metal straw that strains out the leaves. Whether brewed in a gourd or not, it's important to use hot, not boiling, water to steep this 'tea.'

From THE NEW FOOD LOVERS COMPANION, Fourth edition by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. Copyright © 2007, 2001, 1995, 1990 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc.