Arnold Zwicky's Blog

The northern answer to the Bloody Mary. It started in Calgary about 50 years ago.

Clam broth /juice is the secret ingredient

From the girlheartfood site from 6/8/17:

This Ultimate Caesar Cocktail is a total Canadian classic. It’s Clamato juice based with a hit of vodka and the whole thing gets flavour and spice from ingredients like horseradish, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.

From Wikipedia:

A Caesar is a cocktail created and primarily consumed in Canada. It typically contains vodka, a caesar mix (a blend of tomato juice and clam broth), hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, and is served with ice in a large, celery salt-rimmed glass, typically garnished with a stalk of celery and wedge of lime. What distinguishes it from a Bloody Mary is the inclusion of clam broth. The cocktail may also be contrasted with the Michelada, which has similar flavouring ingredients but uses beer instead of vodka.

It was invented in Calgary, Alberta in 1969 by restaurateur Walter Chell to celebrate the opening of a new Italian restaurant in the city. It quickly became a popular mixed drink within Canada where over 350 million Caesars are consumed annually and it has inspired numerous variants.

… The Caesar was invented in 1969 by restaurant manager Walter Chell of the Calgary Inn (today the Westin Hotel) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He devised the cocktail after being tasked to create a signature drink for the Calgary Inn’s new Italian restaurant. He mixed vodka with clam and tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, and other spices, creating a drink similar to a Bloody Mary but with a uniquely spicy flavour.

Chell said his inspiration came from Italy. He recalled that in Venice, they served Spaghetti alle vongole, spaghetti with tomato sauce and clams. He reasoned that the mixture of clams and tomato sauce would make a good drink, and mashed clams to form a “nectar” that he mixed with other ingredients.

According to Chell’s granddaughter, his Italian ancestry led him to call the drink a “Caesar”

Like the bloody Mary — see my 4/22/14 posting “The bloody Mary” — the drink is highly variable.

This entry was posted on March 26, 2018 at 1:46 am and is filed under Language and food, Names. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.