drinks & cocktails

Bloody Mary – Portuguese Style

Bloody Mary - Portuguese Style

We usually fly to and from Portugal on budget airlines, so when, a couple of months ago we found ourselves flying “full service,” with British Airways, it was a pleasant surprise when the trolley of free drinks came down the plane.

Bloody Mary - Portuguese Style

Bloody Mary – Portuguese Style

I spotted the little brown bottle of Worcestershire sauce and couldn’t believe that for several years I had somehow forgotten how much I enjoyed a good bloody mary. I ordered one on the plane, but there was no Tabasco sauce available, so the drink I was given wasn’t quite up to scratch.

 

Back in Portugal, I got to wondering whether a bloody mary would be quite as good with local ingredients. Although Worcestershire sauce is available here, it is imported and therefore rather expensive, and the local alternative is a lighter coloured sauce called “Molho Ingles.” Tabasco is also hard to come by, but hot piri piri sauce is everywhere. It was time for an experiment.

I mixed a glass of ice, a good dollop of Absolut vodka, tomato juice, a wedge of lemon, and topped it off with a layer of Molho Ingles, ten drips of hot piri piri sauce and a grinding of pepper. I’ve never really been a fan of celery near my bloody mary so I left that out.

 

The verdict: yes, it works, and in all honesty using the cheaper local ingredients makes no difference that I can notice. When we next have friends staying I look forward to serving up a hangover-destroying bloody mary breakfast!

I have also posted a Bloody Mary recipe over at Suite 101. Click here to visit.