A 5-minute read: classic martinis tend to pair best with fairly robust-flavoured or nicely textured food such as pickles, nuts, cheese, cured meat or seafood.

This is because these items can stand up to the strong flavour and mouthfeel of the gin or vodka. You can see plenty of examples of suitable food options here.

A Bold Addition to the Extended Martini Family

The Porn Star Martini, however, has a completely different flavour profile, so you can pair it with a totally different array of foods.

It’s much lighter than a classic martini. It’s fruity, sweet and sour, with bubbles served on the side.

It’s not actually a classic martini at all. It’s just a very good cocktail, typically served in a v-shaped martini glass.

Yet it has earned the honorfic title of “martini” through branding and personality, and kept it through sheer strength, perseverance and popularity, much like the Espresso Martini.

Blood relative or chosen family, the drink has certainly earnt it’s place on this website, so you might as well enjoy it (because it’s bloody good). And while you’re at it, enjoy some of these dishes at the same time to really elevate the experience.

Types of food you can serve with a Porn Star Martini

You can completely mix up the normal martini food menu for this drink, and get particularly sexy with some of the dishes.

So here’s a selection of things that I think go very well with the cocktail:

Sashimi

My favourite pairing is sushi, particularly sashimi. It’s healthy, beautiful and undeniably sexy food, at least in my opinion.

I also wouldn’t pair sashimi with a classic martini (apart from maybe some shime saba) because the gin or vodka would inhibit my taste buds and ability to appreciate the rich, delectable flavours of the raw fish. 

But the much softer Porn Star Martini is the perfect opportunity to serve one of my favourite foods alongside a good drink.

There are plenty of other options but sexy sashimi is my top choice.

Other Sushi

As well as sashimi, there are numerous other types of sushi you could serve alongside a Porn Star Martini. I particularly like a selection of maki rolls. The more diverse, the better.

By selecting hoso-maki (the smaller rolls, with the nori seaweed wrapper on the outside rather than on the inside) you can eat the food with one hand without having to use chopsticks.

This leaves you freer to alternate between holding the food and the drinks.

By choosing a selection of different maki rolls you will have a sweet and sour cocktail, a sparkling wine, half a passion fruit and a joyous array of cylindrical flavour delights all thrown into the mix.

The act of consuming it all in alternating sips and bites feels like a scintillating game of flavour chess you can play with yourself.

Ceviche

As well as sashimi, another fresh seafood that I think makes an excellent pairing is ceviche. The spicy and zesty freshness goes very nicely with the sweet cocktail and it can add a textured fanfare to the experience with the cured flesh and crunchy onion and crackers.

If you want another drink after you finish your cocktail you could also use the ceviche marinade to make a Tiger Milk Martini.

Grilled Seafood

If you are treating yourself to this substantial cocktail experience, why not push the boat out even further and grill yourself some scallops, prawns or lobster? The fleshy umami goes very well with the fresh, zesty flavours of the Porn Star Martini, with the seafood pairing particularly deliciously with the sparkling wine on the side.

Bare Flesh

Tartare is an excellent pairing. There is something quite exciting about raw meat paired with an evocative cocktail.

The same goes for carpaccio. My favourite ever comes from the fantastic Italian restaurant Bocca di Lupo in London’s Soho but there’s an honourary mention for the reindeer carpaccio at Lappi Ravintola in Helsinki as well.

Crunchy Beige

Slightly less sexy but certainly very, very satisfying, you can always pair fried snacks with a Porn Star Martini. I’m thinking spring rolls or other types of dim sum. Other delights can include crunchy salmon skin or crispy chicken skin crackers, both of which can be prepared in advance.

This is good for an intimate date night, but not the first date. You should know each other well enough to feel comfortable with the sound of one another crunching down the fried wrappers.

Summer Rolls

Bringing sexy back again, I absolutely adore Vietnamese summer rolls (Gỏi cuốn). I love that you can make them in advance of a martini, then effortlessly serve them either alongside your drink, or after you have finished your martini as a healthy, tasty and seemingly effortless but wonderful starter.

The fresh, colourful, texture-joy of this dish makes it go very nicely with a Porn Star Martini in particular, especially with juicy pink prawns. I often serve mine with fresh mint leaves but you can omit this if you don’t want too many flavours clashing with the cocktail. Basil works very well.

It’s also very easy to make this vegan or otherwise customise the contents to your preference.

Tacos

Proper tacos – actual Mexican, flavoursome, electrifyingly authentic tacos are a thing of great wonder. They can range from sloppy but satisfying comfort food to the highest echelons of culinary wonder, all served on a humble round of corn.

Done well, they can elevate a meal to sensational heights. They can also be largely prepared in advance which makes them a good option for serving alongside a martini.

I personally think that soft-tacos are more suitable for a cocktail experience. Many Mexican taco flavours are also eminently suitable for the vanilla, passion fruit, lime and sparkling wine flavours of the Porn Star Martini.

Eating them with your hands, with the ever-present potential for slight spillage on your chin only enhances the intimacy of the drink.

Serve them with napkins (or maybe even oshibori) to dab the salsa from your partner’s face if necessary.

Cured Meat and Melon

A combination of cured meat such as prosciutto, with a subtle melon flavour like cantaloupe can bring a simple but pleasant pairing to the Porn Star Martini. It doesn’t pack the same flavour as the cocktail but brings a very suitable fleshy texture that contrasts very well with the drink.

Peut-être pas

You can always serve oysters alongside your Porn Star Martini but I personally find it a bit of an overload. I also think oysters pair much better with a classic martini or some of the drier or saltier martini variations, so despite being an aphrodisiac, I’d leave them out for this pairing.

Further Exploration

There are numerous more suitable pairings for this substantial cocktail. These are my favourites but I’m sure I’ve got more to discover.

If you have any preferences or recommendations of your own, please share them in the comments below!