No scene in Paraguay would be complete without someone filling a small cup from a flask and then sucking up the liquid through a silver straw. England may have it’s tea, but in Paraguay it is terere that rules supreme.
All day everyday terere is being drunk and every household contains that items for it’s preperation so that as well as being enjoyed by the householders it can be offered to any visitors. The drinking of terere is more than just refreshment it also provides a social bond.
The equipment required is simple. A flask or termos, the cup the guampa and the straw or bombilla. The bombilla has a flitered end so that when the water is drawn up the herbs remain in the guampa.
The guampa itself is a handleless cup like a small beaker and may be made from horn or a gourd but it more often wooden. Generally the guampa has a desgin painted on it’s exterior. This may be something traditional such as the Paraguayan flag or some cultural reference or may simply be some form of advertisement.
A termos normally holds two litres of water and is covered in leather upon which there is also a design. Everyone knows their termos and guampa, which is important when they are taken out publicly and passed around.
Inside the termos there will be water and ice as well as often a selection of medicinal herbs. In that respect the drink differs from how it is taken in Argentina and Uruguay where hot water is used and the name changed to mate.
Mate is drunk in Paraguay, but only first thing in the morning of on a cool winter evening. Temperatures of around 40 degrees are much better faced with something ice cold.
Inside the guampa is the yerba mate or in Guarani ka’a. This like tea comes from an ever green shrub. Alex Paraguariensis which is a member of the holly family. The bushes are grown on plantations with the leaves and stems being picked, crushed and then sold as yerba mate.
As with all mass produced products it is sold in a large number of varieties by a number of firms often containing additives such as lemon, mint or herbs.
Once the termos has been filled with iced water and the guampa with yerba mate the terere is ready to be drunk. This is rarely done by one person alone but instead amongst a group with the passing of the terere helping to solidify bonds of friends and family.
Everyone will be seated, often in a circle with one of their number taking the responsibility of being the server who ensures that the terere flows freely around the group.
He will half fill the guampa with yerba and then top up with water. The first fill, which is bitter as the water has not yet soaked into the yerba, is traditionaly sucked up and spat out as an offering to Saint Thomas.
Then the guampa is refilled and passed to the servers neighbour who after drinking passes it back to the server who then fills the guampa for the next in line and so on around the group. There is always only one guampa and one bombilla which everyone shares.
The whole process will continue with the terere travelling round and around the group until everyone excuses themselves from drinking any more. This can be quite a while later on a hot afternoon.
The occasions when someone has the terere to themselves might when someone goes into town for some shopping taking their termos along with them or a farm labourer taking a break in the fields. Even then though any encounters that may happen will result in an offer to share terere as part of the greeting.
I will leave for now the nature of the herbs which are added to terere and go instead to prepare my own.
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