Spirits
Ara
ཨ་རག
Bhutan
Rice, maize, millet or wheat fermented and distilled at home into a cloudy spirit, often served warm with butter and a fried egg stirred in.
Original eatfuls sticker artwork
What it is
A closer look at Ara.
Rice, maize, millet or wheat fermented and distilled at home into a cloudy spirit, often served warm with butter and a fried egg stirred in.
What to look for
Know it when you find it.
Legal to make at home but not to sell, so you meet it in houses rather than bars. The buttered egg version is a winter thing.
Where it belongs
Origins and
traditions.
Food rarely respects a border. These are the places the dataset connects most strongly to Ara.
Names around the table
One food, more than one name.
Keep exploring
If this caught your eye…
Valais, Switzerland
Abricotine
A clear eau-de-vie distilled from Luizet apricots grown on the terraces of the Rhône valley, drunk cold after a meal.
Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Absinthe
A high-strength spirit distilled with wormwood, green anise and fennel, served diluted with iced water dripped slowly over a sugar cube until it clouds.
Netherlands
Dutch Advocaat
Advocaat
Creamy Dutch liqueur made from egg yolks, sugar, brandy, vanilla, and cream, smooth custard-like consistency with 14-20% alcohol.
Romania
Bilberry Liqueur
Afinată
Wild bilberries picked in the mountains and steeped in spirit with sugar into a dark purple liqueur.
Antigua and Barbuda
Cavalier Rum
The lighter, everyday rum from Antigua Distillery; one of the two signature rums of Antigua, alongside the aged English Harbour; a versatile mixing rum; used in rum punch and cocktails; the everyday rum of the island; the Cavalier rum of Antigua; a staple of every rum shop.
Antigua and Barbuda
English Harbour Rum
Smooth, aged rum from Antigua Distillery; one of the two signature rums of Antigua, alongside the lighter Cavalier; a premium sipping rum; served neat or in a rum punch; the rum of the island; the English Harbour rum of Antigua; an aged rum.
Madeira, Portugal
Aguardente de cana
Madeiran sugarcane spirit; base for poncha.
Argentina
Aguardiente
An Argentine spirit distilled from sugarcane or grapes, drunk neat or in cocktails in the northwest. A strong, clear liquor, often homemade in the Andean provinces.