Martini Food

“If it wasn’t for the olives in his martinis he’d starve to death”
Milton Berle

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

You can read more about vegetables below, but I thought that pickles deserved their own category on a martini blog given how important they are to some of the recipes.

In general, pickles encompass a wide array of potential snacks. They are usually infinitely pairable with martinis, and often constitute a specific garnish for certain Martini variations such as the Gibson.

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. I also include insects in this category.

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.

Carbohydrate

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.

Sweet

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. A range of fruits can also make a pleasant and refreshing side-dish, while some martini variations even call for a fruit garnish like lychee or cherry.

Read the latest posts about sweet martini accompaniments here.

Dairy

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is cheese-2785_1920-edited.jpg

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.

From soft blue cheeses to the (in)famous Parmesan Martini, there’s a lot of deliciousness to explore!

Read the latest posts about dairy-based martini accompaniments here.

Where to find your supplies

Your local independent vendors! If you’ve got a good butcher, fishmonger or grocer supplying local, good quality food, start there – and please share the things you pair with your martinis so everyone can learn from you and your local product!

Otherwise, 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.

K-Citymarket: a Finnish chain that happens to be my favourite supermarket in the world. It has excellent quality and a huge range of healthy and delicious foods that are perfect to pair with a martini.

Lidl: frequently supplying affordable, regional European food, often on a rotational or seasonal basis, much of it eminently suitable to accompany a martini.

Marks & Spencer: a fancy British supermarket chain that’s good for nibbles, bites and accoutrements. Particularly handy for martinis on the go.

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.

All the latest food posts

Foraged Mushroom Fries using Dryad’s Saddle or Pheasant’s Back
These large fungi are easy to identify and can be deliciously prepared.
Recent Seafood Delights Paired with Martinis
A collection of delicious seafood dishes accompanying some recent elixirs of quietude.
The Top 10 Most Popular Martini Foods from 2024
The post highlights the top ten popular foods from the site last year, emphasising unique pairings with martinis and notable trends.
A Good Old Fashioned Prawn/Shrimp Cocktail
A delicious, retro but solid dish to accompany a martini or begin a meal.
Some Recent Danish Smørrebrød Recipes as Martini Accompaniments
Danish open sandwiches, or smørrebrød, pair well with martinis, and I enjoy experimenting with various recipes – particularly dependent on whatever is available in the shop, fridge or garden at the time. These Nordic dishes are great for dinner parties and can be prepared in advance. They keep well for an hour or two and are perfect for post-activity meals, such as after a sauna. Skål!
Dates with Salted Tahini: an unexpected Martini snack from Oman
A simple pairing from the heady frankincense aroma of Nizwa market in Oman.
Cured Venison Carpaccio
A delicious, savoury dish to evoke the forest while you’re inside enjoying a drink.
A Round of Rice Cracker Canapés
A selection of easy, gluten-free canapés to go with your drinks.
A Dry Martini with Cured Fish at Bien Basar, Bergen
An unexpected martini with excellent Norwegian seafood by Bergen waterfront
Mixed Olive Tapenade
A perfect martini accompaniment with roots stretching back thousands of years.
Sexy Dishes to Pair with your Porn Star Martini
While a classic martinis pair best with things like olives, pickles, nuts, meat, dairy and seafood the Porn Star Martini offers a completely different flavour and mouthfeel, opening things up to a very different array of potential food pairings. It complements dishes ranging from sushi to tacos and can really bring a satisfying AND sexy addition to your cocktail experience.
Crispy Chicken Skin Crackers for a Martini – easy home recipe
Tim Anderson’s “Your Home Izakaya” offers a delicious drinking snack in the form of crunchy chicken skin crackers. The recipe involves baking chicken skin with sesame oil, salt, and MSG. Serve alongside a classic martini with a twist of lemon peel if you want a delightful texture and flavour contrast.
Simple Pleasures – Serving Bread and Butter with a Classic Martini
The unexpected discovery that bread and butter makes a perfect accompaniment to a martini, providing comfort and enhancing the sense of simple appreciation.
Some recent canapés
Delicious and aesthetic bites to accompany your drinks
A Martini with Lumpfish Caviar
A delicious and affordable black-coloured seafood to elevate everything.
Fusion Style Avocado Sashimi
An absolutely delicious and ridiculously moreish dish that feels both futuristic with its zing but deeply comforting with its soft guac-based flavours.
A Martini with Edible Insects
Some alternative crunchy critters to accompany your drink.
The House Martini at Lappi Ravintola, Helsinki
Reindeer carpaccio and a home-infused martini to evoke the cosiness of a Lapland home
A Martini with Black Charcoal Crackers
A variation on business class airline service style from London to Moscow
Addictive Cabbage (Japanese Drinking Salad)
An easy and delicious dish to accompany your drinks
Mini Drop Scone Canapés
A traditional Scottish recipe, slightly altered to make them bitesize.
Some Recent Meat
Some tasty meaty snacks that accompanied some chilly martinis this winter
Crunchy Canapés with Onion and Taramasalata
Possibly my favourite canapé of all
A Martini with Harðfiskur (Icelandic wind-dried fish)
An Icelandic delicacy with an acquired taste
A Torskerogn (Cod Roe) Martini Accompaniment
A delicious Danish dish that reminds me of my childhood.
A Martini with Liquorice
A sweet, but sometimes salted accompaniment you might want to try with your martini.
A Martini with Sri Lankan Mutton Rolls
A delicious, crunchy and comforting snack, ubiquitous across Sri Lanka.
A Martini with Octopus Carpaccio
A delicious, and possibly my favourite snack to accompany a martini at home.
A Martini with Danish Smørrebrød
Some colourful inspiration from Danish cuisine
Steam-fried Edamame
Satisfying and healthy – the perfect green counter-balance to a cold hard martini.
Crab Roe Flavoured Broadbeans
This is another episode of “what intriguing martini snacks can we find in the Chinese Supermarket?” All credit to Longdan on the Walworth Road in South London for regularly mixing up their offerings to keep us delighted with new mouth sensations. As soon as I saw this one, I knew I had to try it. I love most forms of roe but am also aware …
Scottish Onigiri
Japanese onigiri using Scottish smoked salmon
Pinzimonio
This is an Italian appetiser that goes very nicely with a martini. It’s essentially just fresh vegetables dipped in olive oil.
Bacon Asparagus Skewers
A delicious Japanese yakitori appetiser that goes perfectly with a martini
A Pickled Walnut Martini
Black pickled walnuts are a beautiful addition to a martini.
Middle Eastern Popcorn
This is an easy popcorn recipe using flavours synonymous with the Middle East.
Crunchy Salmon Skin in the Air Fryer
This is one of the most popular recipes on my site. I’ve got two versions, the original air fryer one, plus my new go-to version which I do in the pan. Both turn out with good results, and obviously both go very well with a nice, cold martini! A lot of people don’t eat fish skin – and I get it. It’s a completely different …
A Martini with Blackberries
This is a serving for Autumn, or Fall, depending on your culture. Summer has officially ended in the Northern Hemisphere. As the leaves change colour and warm weather fades, a new crop of natural goodness appears from the land. Blackberries have come into season and they are widely available in producing regions. There is something whimsical about marking the passage of time and seasonal produce …
A Martini with Kelp Chips / Crisps
This is the yin and the yang of healthy seaweed with (ahem) a slightly less healthy martini. Kelp is a super food, and very tasty. If you can (sustainably) forage it nearby, this is an easy way to enjoy it with a drink. The steps I don’t season mine. It has enough salt and iodine flavouring already. However, if you want to season it, I …
Crunchy Air Fryer Aubergine (Eggplant)
This is a really easy and very tasty way to prepare eggplant / aubergine using your air fryer.
Hebridean Blue Cheese
This is a delicious, sharp but creamy cheese that goes really nicely with a martini. The Hebrides are a beautiful – if wet – constellation of islands located off the west coast of Scotland. One of these islands is the Isle of Mull, which like many places in this part of the world, has a wealth of culinary produce. Much of this produce goes exceedingly …
Mini Onigiri to serve with Martinis
Onigiri are like a Japanese equivalent of a sandwich, consisting of rice, mixed with certain ingredients and then shaped, often into triangles. They can last up to three days (although this can depend on the ingredients and amount of salt and they are usually best eaten within 24 hours). They are often used in packed lunches or eaten at picnics. They are satisfying, tasty and …
Prunes with Blue Cheese and Prosciutto
This is a delicious warm umami-salty-sweet nibble to accompany a frosty martini. It’s a little bit of a faff to prepare but it’s worth it!
Sea Urchin Caviar
Caviar in almost all of its forms goes very well with a martini. Sea urchin is one example – although it’s not to everyone’s taste. It is very much a delicacy in Japan, where it is known as uni (うに) but it is not as widely consumed or farmed in the West. It is creamy and rich with a slightly pungent aftertaste. You can get …
Popcorn Recipes
These are some easy popcorn recipes to mix up your repertoire.
Physalis – my (second) Favourite Martini Fruit
My favourite martini fruit will always be a good quality lemon. Let’s get that out of the way right now. Unless we’re talking about lemons, or the (let’s be honest: somewhat lower deck) world of fruity cocktails, martinis and fruit tend not to mix very often. Sometimes there’s grapefruit, lime or orange peel – the citrus world is certainly compatible as a garnish for gin. …
A German Martini – mit Weisswurst
This is a standard martini but in this case served with Bavarian Weisswurst and other traditional German nibbles.
A Martini with Wasabi Peas
A (non-scientific) experiment to deduce the quality of locally procured wasabi peas to accompany my martini. Pending academic peer review.
Edamame for your Martini
Edamame or soy beans served lightly boiled and salted in their pods are a traditional drinking snack from Japan and they go beautifully with a martini. They’re even healthy!
Martinis for Celiac Disease
This is a guide to gluten-free martini enjoyment. Some martini variations can contain traces of gluten so this should help clarify where you might need to be careful.
Slow roasted leg of lamb
This is a simple recipe to make a slow cooked leg of lamb. You can enjoy a aperitif at the last stage of the preparation while the meat is resting.
A Microwave Popcorn Bowl
The Joseph Joseph M Cuisine Popcorn Making Bowl is a surprisingly effective tool for your martini-making repertoire.
Bubbling Crispy Cheese Wafers
Easy to make, small, crunchy and tasty cheese wafers that you can serve as an appetiser or even a garnish with your martini.
A Roasted Seaweed Snack
If you live somewhere around the UK coast, you may have access to gutweed (Ulva intestinalis), which you can harvest, wash and roast into a highly tasty snack. If the sea in your area is clean, head to a rocky beach and seek out rockpools, and/or areas where fresh water runs into the sea. Here you may find bright green, but somewhat unappetisingly named ‘gutweed’. …
Miso Cucumber Canapés
These are easy but tasty martini canapes using only cucumber and miso paste for a refreshing, healthy, salty-umami vegan bite.
Even more Izakaya food
If you’re wondering about what snacks to serve with a martini, you will find endless inspiration in the world of Izakaya. Izakaya can be roughly described as relaxed and usually low-cost Japanese gastro-pubs. I have written about them quite a bit before, mainly because of their warm atmosphere and inspiring array of tasty menu items that go very well with a martini. Quite a lot …
Chilled scallop canapés with smoked paprika, seaweed-butter and lime
These sound fancy but they were quite easy to put together and can be made in advance, so they’re easy to serve if you’re having a party. Get about one scallop per guest (or two if you want to make it a more substantial dish than just a canapé). I love scallops. My dad was a scallop diver so they’ve never been far away from …
Fusion Food: Seaweed Butter for Martini Canapés
I recently enjoyed a discovery taster menu at the beautiful Michelin-starred Greenhouse restaurant in London’s Mayfair area. I didn’t have any martinis as I didn’t want to spoil my palette before the dining extravaganza but the setting was beautiful, the food utterly inspiring and the service convivial and professional; in-depth but relaxed. What a treat! It certainly set my martini-obsessed brain into overload thinking of …
More martini snacks and canapes
I’m just going to leave this here… What could be easier than olives and cheese-stuffed peppers that you picked up at the shops on the way home? I particularly like the colour contrast of these two. Oh and the taste. You can’t go wrong with the lemony-buttery taste of Nocellara olive flesh, while the soft creamy cheese paired very indulgently with the sweet piccante …
More Izakaya dishes
As I’ve previously mentioned, I love Izakaya culture. So here are some more izakaya-inspired dishes to accompany a martini. This is very simple: grill sweet potato in oil with a sprinkling of salt until ready. I was drinking a martini when I made this so I can’t remember how long it was in the oven for. 20 minutes? Who knows. There’s a reason …
A Martini with Homemade Roasted Seaweed
I’ve previously mentioned my liking for seaweed so I thought I would make my own to go with a martini. After a fairly long walk on the Isle of Mull, I was looking around the beach for something edible to forage. The tide was fairly high but there were several rockpools containing thick gutweed, as above. This dark-green, grass-like seaweed lives in upper tidal areas, …
A Martini with Crushed Oyster Shell
I drifted into borough market the other day and found myself standing in front of a fishmonger’s counter staring at all the produce. I couldn’t leave empty handed and suddenly felt a craving for salty, briny oysters so I bought a handful.I’ve made a martini with oysters before (you can see the blog post here). This time, though, I was inspired by a story I’d …
Hazelnut snacks
Hazelnuts have been consumed by humans for thousands of years. I am currently on the Island of Mull in the Hebrides. On the nearby island of Colonsay evidence suggests that local residents were consuming large amounts of the nut in 7000BC. The Hebrides can often feel very far from civilisation so the fact that people living here enjoyed this tasty snack several millennia before …
Martini Izakaya Dishes
An Izakaya is essentially a type of Japanese pub that specialises in food to accompany drinks. It’s basically my favourite type of drinks setting. I love the post-work, instantly friendly and relaxed atmosphere, completely free of pretension. Comparable to Spanish tapas or Turkish meze, the Izakaya-way is healthier than simply guzzling down a bucket of booze before staggering off for some fish and chips or …
Asparagus skewers to accompany a martini
A delicious, crunchy and flavoursome luxury snack for your drinks.
Shime Saba (pickled mackerel sushi)
I love mackerel. You’ve got to eat it fresh, it looks beautiful, it tastes really strong and it reminds me of fun times trying to catch them in the summer from a very young age. Look at the deep colouration and beautiful patterns of their skin. I also love sashimi, or meat and seafood that is lightly cured, smoked or marinaded rather than cooked outright. …
Beef yakitori snacks
I had a couple of people round for a catch up (over drinks of course). I was trying to think of something quick and I easy I could feed them between martini drinking when I came across some beef mince on special offer at the supermarket. I bought a kilogram and decided to make yakitori, a type of Japanese skewer kebab, inspired by izakaya/yakitori-bar type …
Korean spinach – Sigeumchi-namul
A tasty and healthy vegetarian ‘banchan’ style accompaniment for your martini.
Martinis and Seafood
Seafood goes well with a martini. The salty freshness compliments the sharp but oily astringency of a cold martini. Seafood also has an air of simplistic luxury, thus making it a natural pairing for the drink. I’ve put together a couple of examples of things I’ve made/served or otherwise eaten with a martini over recent months. While some of these things have been in London, …
Oysters: a Timeless Martini Accompaniment
In my opinion, one of the nicest, most simplistic nibbles to accompany a martini is the humble oyster. This mollusc has been consumed for millennia. Sometimes seen as a food for the poor, its reduction in availability over recent decades has led to its rise as a more exclusive culinary luxury. Nonetheless, whatever it’s historically fleeting association with status, I see it as a timeless …
Egyptian Duqqah to accompany a martini
This is a simple snack item consisting of ground nuts, herbs and spices served with bread and some good quality oil. I’ve always been drawn to Egypt, old and new. It’s such a fascinating country with both grand and tumultuous history and I am delighted to include it in my blog with a contribution to the martini world. I wanted to write about duqqah, which …
Salmon tartare canapés
Olives are the nibble most closely associated with martinis but I always think that seafood is one of the best matches. It’s fresh, cold and goes well with citrus, just like a good martini. Consuming seafood also brings its own element of danger (food poisoning? Mercury?), much like the danger associated with drinking a strong martini. So here is a simple and easy recipe for …
Martinis y tapas
Having spent an amazing weekend in Madrid I thought I would write about the drinking culture in the city and see what inspiration I could draw from a martini perspective. Los Madrileños know how to have fun – without feeling guilty, without getting stressed and without getting post-apocalyptically drunk. If you feel like having a drink or having something to eat then do so. …
Bamboo Charcoal Peanuts
A tasty, black-coloured snack for an unusual martini accompaniment.
Mini blini
Here is a highly tasty and versatile nibble from Russia; a country with a huge amount of expertise when it comes to drinking and tradition. While I would normally encourage making things at home, I saw some miniature blini for sale in the supermarket and decided just to buy them for a martini accompaniment. Otherwise, I have seen several good recipes online. I found this …
More snacks and nibbles to accompany martinis
Here is another selection of savoury snacks I’ve recently served and eaten with martinis. Roasted and salted soy beans. Prawns on lettuce with Peking duck sauce and fried spicy broad beans. You can get a lot of good stuff in IKEA. Fish roe goes well in Swedish croustades. Here are some of the filled croustades, as well as some Japanese nuts and seaweed snacks. Here …
An easy guide to making Tsukemono (Japanese pickles)
I sometimes serve pickles alongside a martini as an accompanying snack. A pickled onion is the garnish of a Gibson Martini while I like Polish-style pickled gherkins on the side as well. However, I am also a fan of Japanese pickles – tsukemono / 漬物 – which I tend to find more delicate than their robust European cousins, so I thought they would make an …
An early Christmas present of olives
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… nine million olives and an EU fishing quota’s worth of anchovies.
Sliced gherkins and Eastern Europe
I’ve mentioned before that I like Eastern European (particularly Polish) bars that serve traditional vodka (kept in the freezer) served with good accompanying nibbles. Sliced pickled gherkins are a very simple but traditional example. They’re quick, crunchy and healthier than crisps or Bombay mix or any of the other things I like to eat with a martini. They are very easy to do at home, …
This post is self-indulgent
Nibbles I don’t actually like the word ‘nibbles’. It sounds frightfully bourgeois. Nonetheless, it’s nice to have something to eat to accompany a martini, especially if it’s been a long day and you’re waiting for dinner. Here are some past examples. The root of all evil: carbs, fat and cheese flavouring, deep-fried. Langoustine with roe. Olives, of course. Nuts. You can’t go wrong with nuts. …
Le Jacques Coustini
For mid-summer I like to gather friends in the evening for seafood and drinks as the sun slowly sets. Akvavit normally features strongly in the blueprints for the night but before I served the food I wanted at least one martini as an aperitif. For a seafood theme I made a slight alteration to a classic gin martini, adding a dash of olive brine for …
Japanese-style scallion / spring onion skewers
Inspired by Japanese bar food, I made some very simple spring onion skewers to accompany martinis. These are a very tasty snack. They are very simple ingredient-wise but can be a little bit fiddly to prepare. Nonetheless they can also be a very striking side dish. You could even serve them on top of a martini as an eye-catching garnish. I chopped the spring onions …
Sri Lankan bites
When I was based in Sri Lanka, a country where they know how to work hard and drink harder, it was almost essential that alcohol was served with food. The Sinhalese actually use the word ‘bites’ to describe this. It was during my time in this fascinating, beautiful but complex country that the importance of serving tasty nibbles with your drink was strongly instilled in …
Bites
Martinis should ideally be served with snacks to compliment the strong, icy flavour of the drink. Olives are always a winner, and there are so many varieties to enjoy. Nuts are also good, as the saltiness goes so well with the martini. I like salted pistachios in their shells most of all. Japanese seaweed snacks work very well. Bombay mix is a classic. Miniature rice …