Bittersweet in South America

Other than bleeding steaks, Argentina and Uruguay are known for their extremely high consumption of two things : mate and dulce de leche. Mate, or yerba mate, is an extremely bitter caffeinated plant that is ground and drunk as an infusion. Most of the world, led by Finland and other northern European countries, get their caffeine from coffee, whereas several Arab countries and British Commonwealth nations get theirs from tea. Argentina and Uruguay, however, are the only ones that get their dose from mate.

The drinking of mate is a ritual. The ritual and the drink can not be separated. It can happen at your home, at a park, or at a party. One person holds the gourd with the mate and a thermos of scalding water. I shall call him the Gourdmaster. The Gourdmaster fills the gourd with water, sips from the sieve-straw until all the water's gone. Backwash is just as disgusting in Argentina. He then refills the gourd, passes it to the person beside him. They must not say "thank you", but just accept it, drink the water, and pass it back. The Gourdmaster refills it again and delivers the gourd to the next person in the circle. Only when the gourd has gone around the circle several times and your belly starts to distend with bitter water may you finally say "thank you," which translates to "My stomach hath spruck, Gourdmaster."

Dulce de leche, the opposite and equal to mate, is a caramel-like spread made from sugar and milk. Argentinians eat more dulce de leche per year than the Americans eat peanut butter, the French nutella, or the Australians vegemite. "Dulce de leche goes on everything," repeated our friend Lisandro. He stressed every syllable of every word and was deadly serious. In the three days we spent with Lisandro and Yessi, he proceeded to show us that his catchphrase, or rather, rallying cry, was sincere and heartfelt. Anything in his home remotely solid got a coat of dulce de leche. "Everything" the walls softly echoed. Pancakes, bread, ice cream, yoghurt, crackers, fruit, wallpaper, you name it. I smeared some on my finger but had to yank it away lest Lisandro see and chomp it.

Bitter and sweet. Sweet and bitter. You add those bloody steaks back in, and you got bloody, bitter, and sweet. And those, kids, make up the three vertices of the Argentinian Food Pyramid.