Ok maybe we should all have been speaking Spanish not English with each other but together the friends we met at Expanish certainly helped us experience real Argentine culture. Such as Mate- introduced to us by our teacher Eduardo- a herbal drink introduced to the Spanish by the indiginous people and now a national obsession even more so in Uraguay! The yerba mate leaves are drunk from a cup called the mate through a special metal straw called a bombilla. hot water and sugar is added and it is shared with friends and is all very sociable. The taste however is... a love it or hate it thing a bit like marmite!
It´s kind of like green tea mixed with tobacco but lots of sugar helps!
Drinkin it in the mellow rustic surroundings of the Cumana cafe off Av Sante Fe ith friends and tostadas was the perfect way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.
I loved it - it has a mellow caffeine like effect and is also thought to suppress the appetite- which you need when it comes to the land of Dulce de Leche! An addictive mix of condensed milk and sugar- which when introduced to me by Karen and Sarah has led me to abandon cocolate in search of this greater high... imagine giving up marijuana for crack!
The stuff is everwhere and cheap too- you can have it for breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner- as a spread on bread, in biscuits, in cakes or ice cream! And some Swedes I know or attempting to mix the stuff with meatballs to create a new Superfood!! Madness! Ok I´m off to get some more from the store now!
