At the table
What to eat with Guaraná Antarctica
In Brazil the soda is a lunch drink and a party drink, and the food it sits beside is salty, fried, grilled or cheesy. Here is what to put on the plate, and how to pour.
A sweet, sharp soda wants food with salt and fat in it, and Brazilian cooking has plenty. The product description of the 2-liter bottle describes the drink as a tradition at family lunch, at the barbecue and at birthdays, which is a fair map of where to serve it at home too.
Snacks and party food
- Pão de queijo. Small cheese breads made with tapioca starch, crisp outside and chewy inside. The cheese and salt want something cold and sweet next to them.
- Coxinha. Shredded chicken in dough, shaped like a teardrop, breaded and fried, and a fixture of Brazilian birthday tables.
- Pastel. Thin fried pastry with cheese, ground beef or hearts of palm inside, sold at street markets. Hot, greasy and salty: the bubbles cut through it.
- Popcorn and chips. At home in front of a match, the simplest pairing works.
Lunch and the grill
Sunday lunch is where the 2-liter bottle earns its size. Rice, beans, farofa and a grilled cut such as picanha, with the bottle passed round the table: the soda's sweetness sits well against charred fat and salt. Feijoada, the black bean stew with pork, is heavier and comes with orange slices on the plate. Ice and a slice of orange in the glass follow the same idea.
Burgers, hot dogs and fried chicken work for the same reason: salt, fat and something crisp, with a cold sweet drink to reset the mouth.
How to serve it
- Cold. Below fridge temperature if you can: the guaraná flavor is cleaner and the sugar less heavy.
- Over ice, with a slice of orange. The product description of the 12-pack suggests ice and a splash of orange itself.
- In a glass rather than from the can, so the finer bubbles have room.
- For a table, one 2-liter bottle is about eight 8-ounce glasses. For a party where people walk around, cans are easier.
Original or Zero with food?
With salty, fatty food the Original holds its own best, because the sugar balances the salt. Zero is drier and lets the guaraná bitterness show, which works with grilled meat and less well with sweet desserts. Desserts are better with water anyway: brigadeiros and a can of guaraná is a lot of sugar in one sitting.
Every bottle and can on this site is part of the Guaraná Antarctica assortment, priced as of our last update.