When on the range, the Gaucho diet consists almost entirely of beef. Cows were originally slaughtered only for their hides, leaving the meat for the Gauchos. Argentina’s national dish – grilled meat known as asado – is derived from this simple Gaucho style of outdoor barbecue cooking. Gauchos also drink a typical drink called yerba mate, a herbal tea-like beverage, rich in caffeine and nutrients. Yerba mate is traditionally prepared in a hollowed-out gourd and sipped through a metal straw that also functions as a sieve, called a bombilla.