“If it wasn’t for the olives in his martinis he’d starve to death”
Milton Berle
Martinis should be followed by food. Otherwise, you face a realm of danger.
You should always have easy options for nourishment available for when your drinks are finished. Maybe dinner is keeping warm in the oven, or you’ve ordered takeaway or made a restaurant reservation. If you don’t have an option, by the time the alcohol has hit, you may be too late for salvation.
However, before post-martini food, there is a wealth of delectable bites, snacks and nibbles that can accompany and indeed enhance the pleasure of the martini.
General guidelines
To begin with, the snacks you have with a martini should whet your appetite but not spoil it. You need to be hungry for dinner when your martini is over, otherwise you run the risk of pursuing alcoholic ruin rather than a civilised ascension to the next stage of the evening.
Snacks to serve with a martini should be edible with one hand so you can hold your glass in the other. If you need both a knife and fork to eat a martini, it detracts from the martini.
Martini snacks should be bite-sized. There should be no slicing, cutting or biting off required. Again, you should be able to hold your martini in one hand, and pick up the food with the other hand. Having to bite it is inelegant. Please slice, chop or cut the relevant snacks into appropriate sizes in advance.
The snacks should complement the martini, not compete with it. A special food that requires a keen palette might be wasted on a martini, which is strong to the tongue. High quality sashimi, for example, might be too fine to pair with spirits. Equally, depending on your taste, particularly strong or spicy foods might be too much and detract from the martini experience.
Categories of Martini Snack
Here are some categories of food that make ideal martini accompaniments.
Olives
The classic, ubiquitous martini snack, olives are the defining feature of the Dirty Martini but an ideal accompaniment to many forms of the drink. You can serve them fresh, with all manner of varieties, brined and stuffed with an endless array of options.
Read the latest posts about olives here.
Pickles
This encompasses a wide array of potential snacks, some of which fall into the other categories of this page as well. They are usually infinitely pairable with martinis, and often constitute a specific garnish for certain Martini variations.
Read the latest posts about pickles here.
Nuts
A crunchy, savoury and most classic accompaniment to many classic aperitifs, not least the martini.
Read the latest posts about nuts here.
Meat and Eggs
Flesh, whether it is smoked, roasted, cured, raw or prepared in all manner of other ways can make a delectable accompaniment to a martini.
Eggs too, can provide a surprising array of options for a martini accompaniment.
Read the latest posts about meat and eggs here.
Seafood
There is such a wide, rich and beautiful category of seafood that can be served with martini, encompassing everything from sushi to caviar, ceviche to herring. It can feel like the ultimate luxury in martini food.
You can enjoy oysters, lobster, langoustine, prawns, shrimp and all manner of this luxurious bounty of the sea with your drink.
I particularly like that this category brings together cultures around the world with a cacophony of potential flavours and experiences.
Read the latest posts about seafood here.
Carbs
Indulgent and satisfying comfort food, carbohydrates include the world of cereal grains, corn, rice and the venerable potato.
They encompass all manner of sumptuous treats from blini, bread and crackers to sushi, onigiri and the humble but mighty popcorn and crisps/potato chips.
Carbs constitute a perfect crowd-pleaser and a wholesome treat, both for you, and for others.
Read the latest posts about carbohydrate here.
Vegetables
There is no limit to the creativity you could deploy with this category, be it grilled, boiled, roasted, raw or otherwise, refreshing or satisfying vegetables in small, bite-sized portions can make an amazing and unusual accompaniment to a martini.
Read the latest posts about vegetables here.
Mushrooms
There is a world of delectable fungi that can accompany your martini, from wood ear mushrooms to matsutake. They can be an unusual but highly tantalising side dish.
Fruit
Some martini variations call for fruit such as lychee or cherry but even with a classic martini certain fruits can make a pleasant and refreshing side dish, such as apple, mango or grapes.
Sugar
Apart from fruit, this category encompasses all other sweet items of the food world that could constitute a martini accompaniment. Classic martinis are usually savoury drinks, but they can go surprisingly well with a sweet side dish. You could try lokum, halwa, dark chocolate, jaggery or all manner of sugar-based bite-sized snacks if you have a sweet tooth, but they tend not to be served in venues, you will likely have to do this at home.
Insects
Yes, we have to accept this. It’s a food of the future, and indeed of the past in many parts of the world. Whether its grasshoppers from Mexico or locusts in Nigeria, there is a surprising variety of crunchy, salty snacks in insect-form that perfectly complement a martini. Just think of them as shrimp from the land.
Dairy
We end with one for the dairy lovers. The smooth, fatty umami of cheese is an ideal contrast to the cold, sharp, astringent mouthfeel of a martini.
Where to find it
Here is a list of trusted suppliers that I will add to over time:
Billingsgate Fish Market: the beating heart of London’s seafood industry. You’ll have to get up early to visit but it’s worth it!
Borough Market: it’s not just for tourists, this central London marketplace provides a wide variety of seasonal ingredients that go beautifully with a martini.
Fragata: suppliers of beautiful Mediterranean food.
Japan Centre: a London institution supplying the UK with Japanese food for decades.
Lidl: frequently supplying affordable, regional European food, often on a rotational or seasonal basis, much of it eminently suitable to accompany a martini.
Your nearest oriental supermarket: there are numerous outlets with all sorts of food and snacks that pair beautifully with martinis.
The Scandinavian Kitchen: a fantastic venue serving food and other Nordic ingredients that go beautifully with a martini.
The Martini Socialist 