TRAY

MATE HELADO

Year: 2025
Client: Argentine Team of Panettone World Championship

CONCEPT

From the most strongly embedded traditions of Argentina and collaboration with the Argentine team at the Panettone World Championship comes the Mate Helado ice cream tray. Argentina, with its strong regional identity, represents a vibrant mix of cultures and influences. Mate Helado, inspired by the tradition of drinking mate, a natural beverage made from the yerba mate plant, is an authentic symbol of cultural identity and a daily social gesture, handed down over time and still deeply rooted in Argentine life today. The leaf and flower decorations that adorned ancient mate cups were not only aesthetic, but also had symbolic meaning, celebrating nature and the plant from which the drink itself comes, as well as being essential for cleaning and using a hot drink such as mate. This regional heritage inspired the tray designed for the world competition final: made of silver-colored galvanized and satin-finished brass, decorated with yerba mate leaves, and combined with satin-finished glass elements on a metal base with inlays reminiscent of mate leaves. The bright, almost dreamlike aesthetic, defined by light tones and satin surfaces, enhances the entire tasting experience that unfolds within it. Accompanied by a simple teaspoon, whose detail recalls the typical Argentine mate straw, the Bombilla, which is also representative of the Argentine territory in all its forms.

For the final tasting, the Argentine team presented the forty judges with a tray containing Mate Helado, Bombilla Spoon, Panettone Tray, and Tasting Spoon. The tray for the judges is part of a veritable tasting ritual. This ritual takes place in three stages, represented by three elements: the panettone, the ice cream with its spoon, and a tasting spoon. The panettone rests on a brass base with yerba mate leaves; next to it, the Mate Helado, a satin-finished glass with a pedestal inspired by the traditional mate, contains dulce de leche ice cream, tasted with the Bombilla spoon, which resembles the traditional mate straw in shape and name. The ritual ends with a vertical metal stand that presents the cream in its purest form, completing the experience with a simple and primordial gesture. A delicate smoky effect envelops the tray, accompanying the judges' tasting and narrating, through every detail and gesture, the tradition and culture of mate, emblem of Argentine identity.

Forever grateful to the artisans who teach me the beauty of making. Craftsmanship is the oldest and purest form of art.