Uruguayan Memories

I lived in Uruguay for six months a few years back. It was a great experience. That is where I learned how to speak Spanish. I even picked up a bit of their accent (which was subsequently replaced by a slightly Mexican accent when I lived in Monterrey, Mexico for a year). I was also exposed to some wonderful food products, which were quite hard to find back in Canada.

Many of these products are now becoming common place here, and I love it. The first one was the immergence of dulce de leche a few years back. I probably could have made some, by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk for a few hours. But, thankfully, someone thought the North American market would enjoy this product, and you can find it, ready to serve, in most supermarkets. We usually buy the President's Choice brand.

It is almost like caramel Nutella.

In Mexico, I came across a similar product called cajeta. It is usually made with goat's milk, giving it a bit of a tang, but it too has a caramel like texture to it. I prefer dulce de leche. In Uruguay, I used to eat it in alfajores. I likened these cookies to Wagon Wheels, but they aren't really like them. There is no marshmallow in an alfajor. No, they are more like a caramel sandwich cookie, but the cookie is soft. So yummy.

The second product I fell in love with in Uruguay was yerba mate. With teas becoming more, and more popular, I am seeing mate everywhere. In Uruguay, and Argentina, the locals drink their mate in gourds filled with the mate leaves. They drink the tea through a metal straw called a bombilla. Often, I would seeing people walking down the street with a thermos under one arm, and the gourd in their hand. The gourd would be constantly replenished with hot water from the thermos. I remember seeing locals driving, a standard vehicle, with their gourd in hand, a thermos underarm, and a cigarette in mouth. Everyone always had mate close by.

It was also a very social thing. I began to partake in "mate breaks" in the afternoon, with my Uruguayan friends. Everyone would sit in a circle to chat, and pass around the gourd. I think this is how I learned most of my Spanish, by hanging out with the locals, drinking mate.

Here, mate is sold as loose leaf tea, or in bags. I have seen a ceramic "gourd" for sale at David's Tea, but it seems so fragile to me. The gourds are organic, earthy, and sturdy. I regret not buying a gourd, and a bombilla while I was in Uruguay. I remember when I was a child, a colleague of my father's had brought us a bomilla from Argentina. I never knew what it was for, but it was very beautiful. The straw functions as the strainer for the tea, as it has tiny holes at its base.

It feels odd drinking my mate as I would any regular tea, and I think back to my precious time in Rivera, with my friends, passing around the gourd, and talking about our day. I cannot see this happening here at all, and maybe this tradition has stopped, or diminished, in Uruguay. It is kind of unsanitary, sharing drinks, but it is a part of a culture so very different from our own. I was glad to have experienced it.

PS My third favourite food in Uruguay? Chivitos. The best sandwiches ever!

 

 

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