Mate Anyone??

I couldn't wait to get back to the next class since I knew the subject matter would once again revolve around food. But I had forgotten that David was also going to get a little lesson in mate.

If you know anything about Argentina, you know that drinking mate is a very social event. For the few of you that might not actually know what mate is, according to Wikipedia, "Mate is a traditional South American infused drink. It is prepared from steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water. The drink contains caffeine and has a pungent taste like a cross between green tea and coffee, with hints of tobacco and oak."

But it is so much more than that. No matter where you go in this city you see people, young and old and everything in between, with their mate cups and thermos sharing this time honored tradition with family and friends. Our first meeting with our first Porteño friends Victor and Hernan, was spent drinking mate. While it is an acquired taste, it was something we took too very quickly especially since we had so much fun.



I was curious as to how David was going to like it. Being a Brit and a tea drinker (is that being stereotypical??) I figured he would love it. But NO. HE HATED IT. He could not get over how much he really did hate it. I think he needs to try it again in a much more social atmosphere. It is something you get to share with your friends and at least for me, has been a very special experience.

After David's mate lesson the class moved on. And to be honest, I felt like it moved all over the place. Let's see. We started with mate, then moved on to some adjectives, and then over to some more food, and then over to some irregular verbs, and then back to some more food, and then a few restaurant tips. My head was spinning. I have to admit that for me, this was not the easiest class to follow. As soon as I would focus on a subject matter, it switched. I felt a bit exhausted when class was done.

But getting back to food. While I knew most of them already, it is always fun to talk about the different types of food at an asado. While I have my favorite cut of meat here (entraña which is skirt steak), being reminded about the rest is always quite tasty. Bife de lomo (tenderloin), bife de chorizo (strip steak), vacio (flank steak) and you can't forget about the achuras (innards). Who doesn't like a good chinchuline (intestine) or morcilla (blood sausage)? I have to be honest, I have tried them both and while I won't eat a lot of them, they are both pretty tasty when done right.



As a matter of fact this will all come in quite handy when my parents come to visit in a few weeks. We will be having an asado at my house in their honor. There will be a great mix of locals and expats with once again a great mix of English, Spanish and Spanglish. As well as steak, steak and more steak, some achuras and definitely some mate and a lot of vino!!

Hmmm. . .maybe I should get my parents to watch some of the Bueno, entonces... Learn Spanish videos or maybe listen to some samples of Rosetta Stone before they arrive so they can learn some useful Spanish phrases.