Medio y medio means half and half, and that is the recipe. It was born at the Roldós bar in Montevideo's Mercado del Puerto, a grand iron market hall turned into a forest of grills, where Roldós has been pouring since 1888. The house mixed sweet sparkling wine with dry white wine, and the result, lightly sweet, softly bubbling and dangerously easy, became the drink every visitor is told to try with their first plate of grilled meat.

Today Roldós sells its own bottled blend, and other producers make versions with rosé and red wine, but mixing your own at home takes ten seconds and a cold fridge. It is low effort, sociable and pairs with smoke, which describes most Uruguayan race weekends rather well.

The medio y medio

Ingredients

• 1 bottle (750 ml) sweet sparkling white wine, such as moscato spumante
• 1 bottle (750 ml) dry white wine

More from Uruguay