The options in restaurants for those who dispense with alcohol at meals are no longer limited to orange juice and soda. Houses have been investing in harmonizing non-alcoholic drinks with dishes, following the same logic used for wines and beers —and accompanying a worldwide movement headed by younger generations.
At Curitiba’s Manu, each of the tasting menu times can be accompanied by a non-alcoholic drink. The service costs BRL 240 (only the pairing). The idea came from chef and owner Manu Buffara and came to fruition in the middle of this year.
To make the combinations, there are kombuchas prepared by partners and house infusions —one of them, more herbal, has cucumber, celery, basil and juniper; another, more fruity, mixes hibiscus with blackberry, blueberry and strawberry.
There are also five other rotating fermentations made in collaboration between the bar and kitchen teams at Manu. One of them has sweet potato, curry and passion fruit.
The drinks are alternated due to the seasonality of the ingredients, their short shelf life and to keep up with changes in the menu.
The process of choosing the fermented products takes into account the characteristics of the dishes —whether the recipe has, for example, a sweeter, acidic or earthy flavor, explains sommelière Juli Rodrigues, 34.
“For a dish with a lot of fat, I use more acidic wines like [os feitos com a uva] riesling. The same goes for non-alcoholic pairing. For meat, I need something with more spice, so we use drinks with aniseed, juniper or curry leaf.”
At São Paulo’s DOM, by chef Alex Atala, non-alcoholic pairing is done more informally, as a suggestion —the service is not charged, and the customer pays the price of the chosen drink.
The focus of sommeliers Gabriela Monteleone, 39, and Luciano Freitas, 34, is on fermented products produced and bottled at the restaurant since 2018.
One of the manufactured options is aluá, a drink that, in the house, is made with pineapple, ginger and rapadura, and has indigenous and quilombola origins. Over there, it is served as a welcome meal with salted cashew nuts.
Fruits such as jabuticaba and cashew are alternated with other seasonal options almost daily, and around 20 bottles are prepared per week.
“It’s different from harmonizing with wine because of the offer of ingredients. It may be that the supplier doesn’t have a cambuci, for example”, explains Gabriela.
Due to this rotation, the beverage options produced by the restaurant change to accompany the menu. Two non-alcoholic drinks, however, are permanently on the menu: jabuticaba cordial (a kind of liqueur) with lemon and sparkling water and the taperebá drink with lemon and basil.
“We try to keep the criterion of strength between dish and drink. Recipes with Brazilian ingredients, the focus of the DOM, ask for more acidity and less sweetness”, says Gabriela.
According to her, Brazilianness is also explored in drinks through herbs, spices and roots capable of giving more texture and body, such as the bitterness and tannin (astringent sensation on the tongue) of mate tea or carqueja.
The Pacato restaurant, in Belo Horizonte (MG), is another to have a menu dedicated to those who don’t want to drink alcohol. In the tasting menu launched last week, inspired by the Jequitinhonha Valley, 6 of the 9 times are served with non-alcoholic drinks.
The heaviest dish, which has sun-dried meat, palm salad, green beans and cassava, is served with a carnation-lemon and orange tea with pomelo and angostura soda.
“Traditionally we harmonize by opposition or by similarity to the taste of the dish, but we also seek other relationships, such as cultural and historical contexts”, says Caio Soter, chef and owner.
According to Gabriela Monteleone, from the DOM, the consumption of non-alcoholic beverages should grow in the coming years. “The new generations drink less, are more curious and don’t just understand wine as a restaurant drink.”
“Today, we are able to offer options that go beyond juices and soft drinks. It is possible to prepare from cold brew (a method that makes prolonged infusion of coffee in cold water) to flavored water, which seems simple, but can be super refined”, he adds.
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