We're going to be at the "Patio Latino" event in Christchurch on Saturday 6th February. We'll be offering samples of mate cocido, and will also have some yerba and mate kits for sale.

Patio Latino will be held at Cathedral Square from 10am - 4pm. There will be plenty of live music, cooking and dance workshops, along with a latino arts and crafts market and South American food.

If you're in Christchurch then come along and visit us!

Hello everyone - we hope that you had a great Christmas and happy new year!

We're pleased to announce the availability of several new products from January, like flavoured yerbas, mate kits and mate thermoses:

Yerba Herbal Mix

Yerba Compuesta con Hierbas is a special mix of yerba and herbs such as incayuyo, boldo, tilo and pennyroyal which are known for their therapeutic, cleansing and stomach-soothing properties.

Flavoured Yerbas

For something different, try our new yerba with orange or yerba with lemon - yerba mate mixed with a small amount of natural citrus flavouring. We love mixing 50% flavoured yerba with 50% yerba canarias for a really special flavour.

Thermos for Mate

One problem with drinking mate in New Zealand is that thermoses sold in this country are designed for holding hot tea or coffee to take with you to the beach or camping - most of them have a cup at the top rather than a spout.

Now we have the solution! Our new Amanda Mate Thermos has a special spout at the top which is ideal for carefully pouring hot water into a mate gourd.

We hope you enjoy these new products!

:) MateShop.co.nz

Here's a great idea for a rainy sunday afternoon - something that can get the whole family involved.

Cook up and enjoy panqueques de dulce de leche from right at home. Let us share this simple recipe with you.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups of whole milk
• 1 cup of flour
• a splash of vanilla essence
  
• dulce de leche for filling
• butter to grease the frying pan

Preparing the mixture

1. Put the the eggs and milk in a large bowl and beat them together
2. Slowly sift in the flour while continuing to stir the mixture - try to avoid lumps of flour!
3. Splash in the vanilla and give the mixture one last stir
4. Place the bowl in the fridge and allow it to cool for 15 minutes or so

Making pancakes

1. Heat the frying pan to medium-low heat and grease it with butter. (It' s best to use a small, round, non-stick frying pan, or if you're lucky enough to own a panquequera that's even better!)
2. Pour in enough of the pancake mixture to cover the base of the pan and allow it to cook just long enough for it to brown slightly (a little trial and error is required here...)
3. Flip the pancake over to allow the other side to cook (yes, really flip it if you're a pro - else a spatula may come in handy)
4. Remove the pancake from the heat and set it aside to cool briefly, meanwhile repeat steps 1-5 to cook some more

The yummy part!

1. Place a pancake on your plate and lather on a spoonful (or two) of dulce de leche
2. Roll it up carefully, or fold it in half
3. Drip on a little more dulce de leche, and voila! Ricos panqueques de dulce de leche
4. Sink your teeth in and enjoy!

TIP: you can fix in a little milk or cornflour to get the dulce de leche to that perfect consistency.

MateShop has dulce de leche and other sweet treats for sale here.

You've been asking for them, and now we have them -

Delicious alfajores for sale at Mate Shop.

Starting from mid-July 2009 we have two types of alfajor biscuits available: chocolate coated and sugar dusted - both with a creamy dulce de leche interior.

For the alfajor fanatic - we also have gift boxes and bulk purchases available.

Enjoy!

We have something new for you - somewhere you can ask us questions and share your favourite mate stories: MateShop is now on facebook!

With the launch of our facebook page we're making a very special offer:

Receive a free pack of yerba with each new order over $20* until 31 July 2009 - only for fans of our new facebook page!

Just join our facebook page and mention your facebook name on the order (and whether you'd prefer the yerba with or without stems) then we'll automatically send you an extra pack of yerba with our order.

Be sure to tell your friends!

* limit of 1 free pack per person/household
minimum $20 + shipping costs, or free collection in Wellington

We're pround to bring you a new range of yerba-mate and herbal tea: "Amanda"

The foundations of yerba amanda were formed by by Polish immigrants to the Misiones region of Argentina more than 100 years ago.

Today the "Grupo Amanda" is one of Argentina's most popular brands of mate, and its products are exported to North America, Europe, the Middle East and now New Zealand.

Buen Descuentos

To celebrate the introduction of yerba amanda to New Zealand, we're offering the following great specials until the end of May 2009:

• Save $10 on 10x500g Amanda yerba con palo
• 50 cents off packets of mate cocido original, peach, and lemon flavoured herbal tea

It's that time of year - the holiday season!

Time to de-stress a little and enjoy all those work parties, dinners with friends and plenty of time with your family. That is of course if you're lucky enough to be living close to family.

Our thoughts go out to those of you away from your home country this Christmas. Hopefully you have friends here to enjoy a Christmas meal or drink with - we wish you the good fortune to spend next Christmas with your family.

Christmas specials at MateShop.co.nz

We're pleased to be able to offer you the following specials from Christmas Day through to the coming of the Three Kings (January 6th):

• 5% discount on 500g Taragüi yerba con palo
• 5% discount on 1kg Canarias yerba sin palo
• Free box of mate cocido on all orders over $50

A big thank-you!

We'd like to say gracias to all of our customers and thank-you for the many great comments you've sent us over the last few months.

We hope to keep adding to our list of products on offer throughout 2009 so please let us know if there is something you'd really like us to consider selling.

We at MateShop wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!