Kitchen & Food

#7 · Olive / cherry spear

Spear olives, cocktail cherries, or pickled onions onto the end for a garnish that says "I put effort in."

The single-use plastic cocktail pick is one of the more pointless objects on any bar. A chopstick snapped into thirds spears an olive, a cherry or a twist of citrus just as well and looks a great deal more considered.

How to do it

1. Snap a wooden chopstick into two or three lengths.
2. Sand the broken ends smooth - a fresh bamboo break leaves genuinely sharp splinters.
3. Spear through the middle of the olive or cherry, leaving enough at both ends to hold.
4. Rest across the rim, or drop it in.

Why it works

Bamboo splits along the grain, so a snapped piece keeps its full length of parallel fibres and stays stiff. That is why it pushes through a firm olive without flexing, where a soft wood cocktail stick of the same diameter would bow.

Tips & warnings

• Char one end briefly with a lighter for a smoky, rustic look.
• Cut a batch before a party rather than one at a time.