Bloody Mary: More than just a cocktail

Along with the stable ingredients of vodka and tomato juice, a whole host of spices and flavourings can be added to the drink, including Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, piri piri sauce, beef bouillon, horseradish, celery, olives, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and celery salt.

Yet, while there is no one universally-agreed recipe, the versatility of the drink is allowing chefs to find ways of incorporating it within food dishes, rather than just a food accompaniment.

Take Young’s pub Richard 1st in Greenwich, London, for example, which is offering a chilled Bloody Mary tea with horseradish croutons as a starter (£4) on its new British seasonal classics menu.

Similarly, Drake & Morgan pub the Fable, in Holborn, London, had Great British Bloody Mary mussels on its menu as a main (£9.95) for a period of time.

Another seafood option that works well with Bloody Marys is Whitebait. The White Swan, in Edgbaston, Birmingham has a whitebait and Bloody Mary sauce on its menu for £3.95.

Pizza base​

But Bloody Marys are not exclusive to fish recipes. One London establishment has even managed to incorporate the cocktail on its pizzas.

The Mayfair Pizza Co is offering up the Bloody Mary pizza, made with a tomato base of vodka, fiery Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, celery salt and smoked peppercorns, and topped with cherry tomato, celery leaf and wild rocket.

It also has the Bloody BBQ pizza, which includes Bloody Mary tomato sauce and smoked beef brisket. Finally, there is the Bloody Superfood pizza, which is made with healthy options such as avocado and butternut squash, with a Bloody Mary glaze. All pizzas are £12.