California Studies in Food and Culture- Yerba Mate

"This book is unique: the first ever on the deep history of yerba mate, the Indigenous stimulant tea of South America whose significance has only grown over time. The book takes on mate, now the crucial marker of modern Argentine national identity, as a remarkably changeable cultural, political, and social commodity. Julia Sarreal's story here is as delightful and stimulating as a warm infusion of mate itself."—Paul Gootenberg, general editor of The Oxford Handbook of Global Drug History "A long-awaited work and a true tour de force through five centuries of the history of yerba mate. At the intersection of economic, social, and cultural history, this book will be required reading for those who research food, commodities, and labor from a historical perspective. "—Valeria Manzano, Universidad Nacional de San Martín - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina "Sarreal’s exhaustively researched book narrates Argentina's economic and cultural history through its fluctuating relationship with a single, fascinating commodity. By exploring the persistence of mate drinking—an Indigenous custom—in a country that has often emphasized its connections to European modernity, she illuminates the conflicts that have shaped the nation."—Matthew B. Karush, author of Musicians in Transit: Argentina and the Globalization of Popular Music Like coffee or tea, yerba mate is one of the world's most beloved caffeinated beverages. Once dubbed a "devil's drink" by Spanish missionaries in South America only to be later hailed by capitalists and politicians as "green gold," it has a long and storied history. And no country consumes and celebrates yerba mate quite like Argentina. Yerba Mate is the first book to explore the extraordinary history of this iconic beverage…