Yerba Mate: The Drink That Shaped a Nation

394 Pages·2023·12.974 MB·English

by  Julia J.S. Sarreal

Yerba Mate
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california studies in food and culture
Darra Goldstein, Editor
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Yerba Mate
the drink that shaped a nation
Julia J. S. Sarreal
university of california press
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University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2022 by Julia J. S. Sarreal
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sarreal, Julia J. S., author.
Title: Yerba mate : the drink that shaped a nation / Julia J. S. Sarreal.
Other titles: California studies in food and culture ; 79.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2022] |
Series: California studies in food and culture ; 79 | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2022022425 (print) | lccn 2022022426 (ebook) |
isbn 9780520379275 (cloth) | isbn 9780520379282 (paperback) | isbn
9780520976603 (ebook)
Subjects: lcsh: Mate (Tea)—Argentina—History. | Mate (Tea)—Social
aspects—Argentina. | Mate (Tea) industry—Argentina—History.
Classification: lcc gt2920.m3 s37 2022 (print) | lcc gt2920.m3 (ebook) |
ddc 394.1/5—dc23/eng/20220525
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022022425
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022022426
isbn 978-0-520-37927-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-520-37928-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-520-97660-3 (ebook)
Manufactured in the United States of America
32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23
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For my three boys—John, Félix, and Benicio
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contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 • From Indigenous Staple to Colonial Commodity 21
2 • Tool of Empire 48
3 • Borderland Production and the Struggle to Form an
Argentine Nation 75
4 • Gaucho Mythology and the Drink of the New Argentines 98
5 • Profits and Nationalism: The Rise of Green Gold in
Argentina’s Belle Epoque 131
6 • Yerba Regulation, Nationalism, and the Fall of
Laissez-Faire Ideology 160
7 • Yerba Workers as a Symbol of Capitalist Exploitation 189
8 • Modernity, Mass Politics, and Mate’s Decline 219
9 • The Rebirth of Mate with Democracy, Economic
Crisis, and Globalization 249
Afterword 279
Notes 285
Bibliography 331
Index 361
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acknowledgments
The roots of this project go back over twenty years to when my husband and I
were Peace Corps volunteers in rural Paraguay. For more than two years, we
spent hours building relationships while sharing tereré or mate with
Paraguayans whose friendship we prize to this day. Tereré with yuyos (herbs)
was especially refreshing on hot days, while mate warmed my body and soul on
cold days and early mornings. Sometimes, I drank so much of the caffeinated
beverage that I had trouble sleeping at night. Several years later, while living in
Buenos Aires and conducting dissertation research, my intellectual interest in
yerba mate was sparked. I was struck that almost every street corner had a café,
and yet supermarket shelves were also filled with yerba mate. I wondered how
coffee culture and yerba mate culture could both be so strong. And thus started
an almost a decade-long intellectual exploration of yerba mate.
One of the most exhilarating aspects of this project has been the shared
enthusiasm for yerba mate that I’ve encountered. Many Argentines and
scholars of Argentina have been happy to share their thoughts and stories
about mate, and a number have also generously shared useful information
and documents. In this respect, I am especially grateful to Nicolás Sillitti,
Diego Armus, Mariana Katz, Shawn Austin, Jeff Erbig, Billy Acree, Alex
Borucki, Magdalena Candioti, Jennifer Adair, Patricia Aguirre, María Elsa
Zapata, and Guillaume Candela. Another highlight was spending extended
periods of time in Argentina. Pau Navajas spent hours conversing with me
about yerba mate and provided helpful feedback on the entire manuscript.
Jerónimo Lagier, Javier Ricci, and Rebekah Pite also shared their insights
about yerba mate. Numerous friends, and especially other mothers from
Colegio del Salvador, invited me to share mate and were willing participants
in my yerba tastings. In Misiones and Corrientes, various yerba growers and
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