The Olympic Games are here so why not throw a Brazilian-themed party in honour of the opening ceremony on Friday (5 August)?

The Rio 2016 curtain-raiser is all about the hosts. And no Brazilian party is complete without the right mix of food, drink and music.

What to expect from the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Music

What kind of Brazilian party would this be without a little samba? The genre that finds its roots in Rio should provide the bulk of your playlist. Rio native Arlindo Cruz is a great place to start.

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Tip: Brazilians love live recordings. It’s fun, you feel as if you are there and the accompanying crowd singing makes you want to join in.

The show must continue is the perfect song to welcome in your guests.

Drinks                          

A country the size of a continent unsurprisingly produces a continent’s worth of beverages.

For beer lovers, there are a host of local favourites that can usually be found outside of Brazil and a mushrooming craft beer scene. Keep these beers in the freezer or a cooler full of ice. Warm beers have no place in Brazilian society. It has to be friaca.

Tip: Make sure you keep everyone's copo (glass) topped up. Brazilians use small glasses (if they were larger, the beer would get warm!) so ensure no one is left empty handed.

Ice, limes, cachaça and a whole lot of sugar are all you need to make a tasty caipirinha (Photo: Wikimedia/Christian Horvat)

For those who prefer something sweeter and distinctly more Brazilian, the caipirinha is Brazil’s national drink. A caipirinha is a concoction of lime, sugar and cachaça. Cachaça is a distilled spirit made from sugarcane juice. Brazilians will tell you the better quality the cachaça, the more you smell cane and not alcohol.

Ingredients: 1/2 lime, quartered, 1 teaspoon white sugar, 2 1/2 fluid ounces cachaca

Method: Squeeze and drop in 2 eighths of lime into a large rocks glass. Add sugar, crush and mix with a spoon. Pour in the cachaca and plenty of ice. Shake/stir well.

Tip: Get rid of both the ends and middle sections of your limes to avoid a bitter tasting caipirinha.

Music: Jorge Ben Jor will be making an appearance at the ceremony, and he’s the perfect carioca to jazz up your own party. The English title, Take it easy my brother Charles, will allow you to at least partially sing along.

Food

An immigrant nation, Brazil boasts huge diasporas that have added their own unique flavours to Brazilian cuisine. Most Brazilian parties are therefore not complete without an eclectic mix of foods.  

However, let's start with the basics: rice with black beans is­­ a staple of Brazilian life. A real crowd pleaser, no one will leave with a frown if some fresh rice and black beans are laid out on the table.

Tip: A hefty helping of farofa (toasted manioc flour) wins you bonus points. (Farofas have a very smoky and slightly salty taste, by and large used to accentuate the taste of meat, particularly barbecued meat and hearty stews).

 Rice and beans with some chorizo added in for extra flame (Photo: Flickr/observista)

Sushi! With a diaspora of over 1.5 million, Brazilians of Japanese descent paved the way for modern day Brazilians’ love affair with the Asian delicacy.

Coxinha is a favourite Brazilian snack that is easy to make. The snack derives from Prince Gaston, son of Princess Isabel. Living in seclusion thanks to ongoing mental problems, the young prince had a favourite snack - chicken thighs, coxa in Portuguese. Medium sized balls of Brazilian joy, coxinhas can be filled with other ingredients like tuna, cheese or anything more experimental.

 Coxinhas are best served with a dip of your choice (Photo: Flickr/Carlos Varela)

Music: Elza Soares’ brilliant rendition of Jorge Ben Jor's classic Mas que Nada will give guests a taste of another opening ceremony performer and keep the rhythm of the party going. Born in a Rio favela and married to football god Garrincha, it doesn't get more Brazilian or Rio than Elza Soares.

Much like coxinhas, Mandioca frita (fried manioc) is easy to make, and the perfect nibble for ­­watching some of Brazil’s most famous names put on a show.

 Fried mandioca, Brazilian finger food

Meat, meat and more meat. Brazilians take barbecues as seriously as they take football. Put the grill on a low heat (if you haven’t got a real barbecue), set the rack at a medium distance from the heat and leave the meat to cook slowly. A plate of fresh meat is always doing the rounds at a Brazilian party.

Tip: Scatter some rock salt over the meat as early as possible. And don’t forget to cut it into bitesized slices when ready.

Music: Just as the extra strong caipirinhas you made start to kick in and the party loses some of its energy, hit your guests with a batucada (a percussion heavy samba). Sergio Mendes’ Franfarra - Cabua-Le-Le will either wake them up or signal the beginning of the end.

Let the Games begin!