Table Of Content

Yerba Mate Sarreal-Yerba Mate.indd 1 15/10/22 5:12 PM california studies in food and culture Darra Goldstein, Editor Sarreal-Yerba Mate.indd 2 15/10/22 5:12 PM Yerba Mate the drink that shaped a nation Julia J. S. Sarreal university of california press Sarreal-Yerba Mate.indd 3 15/10/22 5:12 PM 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 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Sarreal-Yerba Mate.indd 4 15/10/22 5:12 PM For my three boys—John, Félix, and Benicio Sarreal-Yerba Mate.indd 5 15/10/22 5:12 PM Sarreal-Yerba Mate.indd 6 15/10/22 5:12 PM 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 Sarreal-Yerba Mate.indd 7 15/10/22 5:12 PM Sarreal-Yerba Mate.indd 8 15/10/22 5:12 PM 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 ix Sarreal-Yerba Mate.indd 9 15/10/22 5:12 PM