“He who bears chives on his breath, is safe from being kissed to death.”
Marcus Valerius Martialis, “Epigrams”, 80 AD

Chives are fresh, bright and attractive, but they also pack a flavour punch for such a delicate-looking herb. A little goes a long way!

Mum was making a Moroccan stew for Sunday Dinner and I found myself craving some sort of Allium in my pre-dinner aperitif.

The Maghreb Martini with preserved lemons is normally a suitable choice for Moroccan but I had onion on my mind.

However, given that autumn is decidedly upon us and the chives in the garden were so defiantly fresh and colourful among the falling leaves I decided to use what nature had provided.

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) have been consumed for millennia. The Allium family includes onions, garlic and shallots but chives are the only member of the family to be found native across both Eurasia and North America. The name chive came to English via the French cive, which itself comes from the Latin word for onion, but it was also known as ‘sedge leek’ during the Middle Ages which is a delightful, antiquated and descriptive term of its shape and flavour.

How to make a Chive Martini

So if you like the flavour and want to incorporate it into your martini ceremony, read on. You will need gin or vodka (it works well with both), a handful of chives per martini and a clean jar.

Start by collecting a bunch of fresh chives. Around 10-15 stalks per martini is plenty.

Rinse them and pat them dry.

Reserve the most aesthetic one as a garnish.

Finely chop the remainder.

Add them to a clean jar.

Top up with gin or vodka. To make a martini this normally requires around 80-120ml or 3-4 US fluid ounces per serving.

A Chive Infusion

Put it in the freezer to infuse for at least two hours. I used gin that was already very cold from the freezer so if your gin or vodka is room temperature when you add it to the jar you will want to leave it in the freezer for at least six hours to get suitably cold for your drink. You should keep your glasses in there as per the normal instructions as well.

When it’s time to serve, add vermouth to your frozen glass to taste then strain in the infused spirit.

Garnish with your aesthetic chive stem.

Serve immediately and enjoy the allium flavouring.

The Verdict

It definitely whets the appetite. It’s more fresh and grassy than a Gibson Martini without any of the vinegar bite. As such, it has a much softer mouth feel.

It pairs well with savoury carbohydrate items in particular, such as crisps/chips, fries and roast potatoes.

Overall, it’s delicious and easy. It’s a nice, simple variation on the classic that feels infinitely more satisfying if you’ve grown the chives yourself.

They tend to like the sun but can tolerate a little shade. The Royal Horticultural Society recommends fertile, moisture-retentive, well-drained soil although ours on the Isle of Mull grow pretty well with our damp conditions. They’re fairly easy and also very attractive, plus they don’t take up too much space either.

Enjoy – at least you won’t be kissed to death!