Mate cocido

Ingredients

Tea

• 4 tbspyerba mate
• 4 tbspsugar
• 1 litrewater

To serve

• hot milk
• more sugar

Traditional

• a live ember from the fire, or a very hot pan

Alongside

• chipa
• mbeju

Directions

1. Cocido quemado, burnt cocido, is the Paraguayan way and it is quite different from simply steeping mate in hot water.
2. Put the sugar and the yerba in a metal pan or a heatproof bowl and mix them together.
3. Now the burning: drop a glowing ember from the fire straight into the sugar and yerba, and stir it around.
4. The ember caramelises the sugar directly against the yerba, and the smoke that comes off it is the whole flavour. This is why cocido quemado tastes smoky and toasted rather than merely bitter.
5. Without a fire, heat the pan over the hob and stir the sugar and yerba together until the sugar melts, darkens and begins to smoke.
6. Stir it constantly at this stage. Sugar goes from caramel to acrid burnt in about fifteen seconds.
7. Take it to a deep amber and pull it back before it turns black.
8. Pour the boiling water in, standing back, because it will spit and steam violently as it hits the hot sugar.
9. Add the water off the heat and pour it away from yourself. Molten sugar and boiling water together throw scalding spatter.
10. Stir until the caramel has dissolved into the water.
11. Bring it back to a simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, then take it off the heat and let it settle 2 minutes.
12. Strain it through a fine sieve or a cloth into cups or a jug.
13. Strain it well. Yerba is very fine and unstrained cocido is unpleasantly gritty.
14. Serve it hot, on its own or with plenty of hot milk stirred in, which is how it is drunk at breakfast.
15. It is drunk with chipa or mbeju in the morning across Paraguay, and it is the drink children have rather than the shared mate gourd.
16. Cocido is the same yerba as tereré and mate but prepared as a brewed drink, which makes it a different thing entirely from the shared bombilla ritual.

Technique

• Cocido en saquitos, in teabags, is now sold everywhere and is far milder.
• The burnt sugar is what people mean by cocido quemado, and a plain steeped version is simply cocido.
• It is drunk with milk far more often than mate ever is.

Substitutions

• Yerba mate teabags, steeped, for a much quicker and plainer drink.
• Any unrefined sugar, which caramelises well.

Variations

• With milk, as cocido con leche.
• Made without burning the sugar, simply steeped.
• Served cold in summer.

History

Made by burning sugar with the yerba over an ember, giving the smoky cocido quemado served with chipa or mbeju.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mate cocido?

Mate cocido is a drink from Paraguay: toasted yerba mate brewed hot with sugar, drunk with milk at breakfast. Made by burning sugar with the yerba over an ember, giving the smoky cocido quemado served with chipa or mbeju.

How long does Mate cocido take to make?

Mate cocido takes 5 min of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 cups. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Mate cocido?

Yes, within limits. Yerba mate teabags, steeped, for a much quicker and plainer drink. Any unrefined sugar, which caramelises well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mate cocido?

The ember caramelises the sugar directly against the yerba, and the smoke that comes off it is the whole flavour. This is why cocido quemado tastes smoky and toasted rather than merely bitter.