From: Dan Parmenter <dan@lec.com>
Subject: (urth) off-topic, mate
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 14:41:15 

Well after reading about it for so long in Wolfe and Borges and being
generally interested in the positive effects of consumable plants and
flowers, I decided I had to find what mate was all about.

Fortunately, I work with two women from Argentina, one of whom
returned from Argentina with the cup, also called a mate, and the
special metal straw/strainer, called the bombilla.  The drink is made
by filling the mate cup (a small gourd, dried, carved and decorated)
with yerba mate the "tea leaves", usually called just yerba and adding
warm, not boiling water.  It is sipped through the bombilla, a
stainless-stell straw with a strainer on the end.

It tastes rather bitter and was described as something of an acquired
taste, but I could see getting used to it.  It is as popular as coffee
or tea is here in countries like Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and
Brazil.

Wolfe's characters in URTH and LONG SUN seem to drink a lot of it,
though I don't recall specific mention of the gourd or bombilla.

So now I know.

Dan

p.s. If any of you happen to be going to Boston's ARISIA SF con (which
starts today), say hello.  I'll be there.


*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.urth.net/urth/