A deceptively simple sweet-and-salty pairing: a thick slab of firm guava paste (goiabada) set against a slice of fresh white Minas cheese. The contrast of dense fruit candy and mild, slightly salty cheese is a Brazilian comfort classic.
Believed to originate in colonial Minas Gerais where the Portuguese made cheese and goiabada; named after Romeo and Juliet via a 1960s guava-paste ad campaign.
The goiabada is intensely sweet and jammy with a candied chew, while the cheese is cool, mild and faintly salty. Together they hit sweet and savoury at once, like a fresh-fruit cheesecake in two clean bites.
Pairing works on contrast: the cheese's salt and lactic tang amplify the guava's sweetness while its fat softens the candy's intensity, balancing the palate.
Variations
with quince paste (marmelada), grilled cheese version, baked in pastry, with requeijao spread
On the Palate
Where Romeu e Julieta Brazilian sits in the Brazilian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
8 steps · 5 min
- 12 min
Choose a firm, sliceable guava paste and a fresh white Minas-style cheese.
- 22 min
Cut the goiabada into thick, even rectangular slices.
- 32 min
Cut the cheese into slices of roughly the same thickness.
- 41 min
Pair one slice of cheese with one slice of guava paste.
Watch outMatch cheese and guava paste in roughly equal thickness — the salty-tangy cheese has to stand up to the sweet, dense paste, so a too-thin slice of either gets lost in one bite.
- 51 min
Arrange the pairs neatly on a serving plate.
- 63 min
Optionally warm them briefly so the cheese softens against the paste.
- 71 min
Serve at room temperature as a dessert or afternoon snack.
- 81 min
Accompany with strong black coffee if desired.
