make it with tequila and you'll never use vodka again.
1
'Round here we'd call that a 'clam digger'.
1
Isn't this a michelada?
a michelada has beer in it
1
vodka
ice
tomoto & clam juice (they are separate things)
Worcestershire sauce
tobasco sauce
horseradish
fresh cracked black pepper
coarse salt (if you like, if you don't, leave it out)
green olive
A few slivers of fresh, crisp celery (to get the taste out of your mouth, celery oil is a very powerful cleanser)
We call it a Bloody Mary. You call it a Bloody Caesar (just to claim it as your "own"), and that's ok.
1
No. Needs celery salt. And Clamato. Eh.
5
Whaddaya think it is to begin with?
Clamato is clam juice and tomato juice mixed together. Unless, of course, you got clams up there in Canada that make their own tomatoes as their own liquor/juice (for oysters it's called "liquor").
Celery salt, have to try that one.
Go Bruins!
My father in Toronto has always used the term Bloody Caesar. Maybe out West they don't use the term, but for us the lineage from Bloody Mary was always more clear.
5
I enjoy a good Bloody Caesar however I cannot drink Motts Clamato juice as it contains a lot of msg. The generic grocery store brands, when you can find them, do not have msg and taste the same, so I can enjoy a Caesar or three without breaking out in hives.
4
And better still... The Bull Shot
tall glass w/ice
1.5 oz Vodka
1 oz Beef broth or consume - concentrated right from the can
3 oz Clamato juice
1 tsp hot grated (jarred) horseradish
Worcestershire & Tabasco to taste
Wedge of Lemon - optional
2
The Caesar is great going down but horrible coming up.
3
Really, there are many inaccurate claims in this otherwise charming article. Such as, no one drinks Bloody Mary's after the morning hours, and the assumption that US folks have n e v e r t h o u g h t o f making Bloodies with Clamato. For shame! --Native New Orleanian
3
PLEASE! Tell me, what's in that awesome-looking pickle on top?
2
I have been drinking vodka and Clamato as a summer evening cocktail for almost twenty years. There is always a bottle in my fridge. I don’t know how it started. My family has always thought it rather odd, though once every summer I bring a bottle of Clamato to a family get together and the entire bottle is drunk.
Perhaps since my grandmother immigrated from Ontario in the early 1900’s, it is in my genes?
These spices here would improve it, but I would consider using celery and garlic powder instead of the salts. Clamato is salty, and this combination of ingredients would bring the sodium level pretty high.
Great article...now I know what to order should I ever be able to visit.
2
Correction: Clamato Picante is my choice
2
As a born and bred Vancouverite, I can state that we frequently had Caesar's - with brunch. Delicious. Sodium? Worth having ankles the size of tree stumps for a day. Nashvillians have recently picked up on the appeal of Clamato. Cheers and salud!
5
I grew up in the US, and all of the adults on my block, as well as my friends' parents, drank "Bloody Marys" made with Clamato. This practice was so ubiquitous that when I finally ordered a Bloody Mary for myself when I was of legal drinking age, I was shocked that it was made with plain tomato juice.
6
After being introduced recently to a bloody made with rum instead of vodka I'll never go back. At a party, the host put out a big pitcher made with rum and another with vodka. The rum pitcher was soon drained, with only a glass or two taken from the vodka pitcher.
I use V-8 but wouldn't care much it it was tomato juice or clamato.
2
One thing that I haven't seen commented on is the difference between Canadian and American Clamato. As a transplanted Canadian, I tried making Caesars here but couldn't tolerate the cloying sweetness of the American Clamato. It's tragic that Motts hasn't figured out that you've got to provide the Canadian product to the American market if you ever want to see your sales take off. I now regularly bring jugs of Motts home from Canada when I make the trip and have converted a number of folks here to this drink!
11
Wow this is the bloody mary recipe I have used for years! Mostly Sunday morning or at
Huskies or Seahawks game time! Haven tried the rim garnish but it sounds interesting. Of course Canada is just up the road....
4
I love the taste of Clamato and remember it fondly from my young adult years. Then I realized that two of the first three ingredients are corn syrup and monosodium glutamate. No thank you.
7
Clam-beers are big in Montana too as well as the enjoyable well garnished Caesar Beer.
1
I like the NYT, Canada, and eating and drinking, but the NYT's coverage of uniquely Canadian food and drinks has left me underwhelmed. Poutine is basically disco fries. The butter tart is basically a small pecan pie without pecans. The Caesar is basically a version of a Bloody, to which I (and many others) often add clam juice. Yawn.
6
Unless you've had poutine in Quebec, you really haven't had poutine. They don't make "disco fries". And the butter tart tastes different than pecan pies, especially since a real butter tart has no pecans. And no, I've never had a Bloody Mary with clam juice - try ordering that in an American bar and see if you can get one; you can't.
More study on your part, please.
17
Canadian food is not exactly a deep field, thanks to the NYT for at least trying.
(After all, English Canadians were basically American colonists who were not thrilled with that whole illegal rebellion thing and French Canadians were a rural offshoot of, well, the French. Everything since is the same immigration patterns as the US. Do we really want to argue over whose Italian immigrants made the best pizza or pasta?)
2
We (at least Montreal) make better bagels.
3
I think what everyone is forgetting is that s Bloody Mary frequently includes horseradish. This does not.
As a avid Bloody Mary enthusiast, though sans horseradish (I was converted by Alton Browns commentary on this subject), this story warms my soul. I am encouraged by Canadian thinking that anytime is the perfect time for a Caesar. Thanks for sharing.
3
Caesars here are often served with horseradish. Adds a wonderful piquantness to it all. Some bars have taken it to the absurd serving as garnishes sliders on skewers and any myriad of bacon-y things piled high over the rim. I'm more of a purist, I guess. Keep it simple with a pickled green been or a stalk of crisp asparagus.
2
We always had them in North Dakota! So much better than a Bloody Mary.
12
Clamato is huge in California too -people here put it in beer and you can even find beer in the supermarket that already has Clamato in it! It's disgusting, and I am from Massachusetts and love clams. It's called a michelada, and people drink it on Saturday morning when they're hung over, along with menudo or other hangover cuisine.
I'm curious what Clamato was actually originally intended for -anyone know? I can see it making a good base for a Bloody Mary or "Caesar" (still not clear on the difference). The idea of of a Caesar bar really appeals to me but I don't know if i could handle all that salt -must give a wicked hangover.
Between this and the Canadian whiskey article I feel like I need to make a trip to Canada one of these days and snag some cheese fries and gravy too.
8
My mom -- a California native -- always drank Clamato. Growing up I remember there was always a jar in the fridge. As I don't like clams I always thought it was disgusting too. I never knew it was a "California thing."
3
A bloody Mary uses tomato juice, and a Caesar uses Clamato juice. A michelada is tomato juice and beer.
I have no idea what Clamato was intended for before this drink...perhaps it was a marketing invention to sell the stuff?
My mother certainly isn't Canadian but I definitely remember her making a "Blood Mary" with Clamato juice instead of the traditional Sacramento Tomato Juice and I'm pretty sure this was well before the "origin" date of 1969. Perhaps she should have named it for posterity's sake. A
5
Or in Latin America, michelada. Replace the vodka with a blonde/dark-blonde beer. Half-parts beer, half-parts mix.
8
I like the michelitro. It’s one liter of michelada goodness.
Rumour has it that the Caesar was truly invented by Sir John A. which would give it a long and appropriately Canadian pedigree. Bound Canada together better than the railroad.
2
And might also explain his response to the Northwest Rebellion
And, come to think of it, the Red River Rebellion, the hanging of Louis Riel and the subsequent election of (liberal) Wilfred Laurier, the Dakota Sioux uprising, possibly leading to the anger and resentment feeling the current Standing Rock standoff. Thank you Sir John A.
As an actual Canadian suggest the drink is better with whatever Bloody Mary recipe one likes, a little garlic and anchovy, and clam nectar, run through a blender briefly,stir or shake with vodka, served over ice.
And try swapping clam nectar and vodka for beef broth (can be trendy and use paleo beef bone broth) and Candian rye. If no one has named this variation yet, suggest "the Calgary."
4
Whatever you do, don't become a bartender.
8
A) It is a Bloody Caesar.
B) Yes, it is, in effect, a Bloody Mary made with Clamato.
C) It's not so much the national cocktail as it is the national hangover drink. Sunday brunch and Casers go together like fat kids and cake.
D) I know these things because I was a bartender - across Canada - for 20 years. I probably made at least 100 of these for any other cocktail I ever made. Once place I worked for 5 years it was the staple drink of choice. The first 4 cupbords near the bar were stacked with nothing but Smirnoff and the first fridge full of Clamato, and all the requisite fixins'. On a Sunday it was virtually all we would sell.
29
Yeah, 90% of Caesars are consumed at brunch.
5
pickled green beans and/or pickled asparagus. those are the only acceptable garnishes for a ceasar. tabasco is the only acceptable hot sauce. steak spice on the rim is not encouraged because of its coarse texture, but is not outright blasphemous.
3
But what about celery!
1
I'm a Caesar lover in Vancouver and I've always called them "Bloody." Have I been wrong all this time? How mortifying!
11
You're not wrong. I think the new generation doesn't know any better.
6
Sounds suspiciously like a Bloody Mary to me, sans celery stick.
4
So Canadians like to drink bloody Marys and like to call 'em Ceasars instead? Meh, to each their own I guess.
3
clamato juice isn't as heavy as tomato juice.
5
Wow, as a Canadian immigrant to the US, I haven't had a Caesar in years. Nice to see the memory rejuvenated.
11
What is that garnish on first pic, eh? Bacon wrapped jalapeño stuffed with poutine? Do they do a poutine garnish?
3
Never mind why the Caesar came into being, how did Clamato come into being?
19
I immediately thought this is an early April Fools joke. But, then again, poutine.
5
Come on, are we really going to pretend that but for the addition of the clam juice in the Clamato this isn't a Bloody Mary!? Clamato or straight tomato juice, it's a Bloody Mary!
4
Northwest Montana servers out the Caesars as well as the Red Beers!
4
so *that's* what I've been making all of these years :)
2
Yes. Because the first thing I think of when I see threaded glass jars is "Hey! I'd sure like to put my lips against that!"
And, I bet it's the perfect thing to wash down your Poutine.
5
Caesar/shmeezer! We always made our Bloody Marys with Clamato, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, and celery salt. A rose by any other name...!
3
The Ceasar has had its moments in the US. Chris Schlesinger's dearly-departed East Coast Grill in Cambridge, MA served a "Bloody Ceasar" (mistake though the name may be, Schlesinger is no rookie) from the mid 80's until it closed, and a variant has appeared over the years at various Legal Seafoods locations.
3
Aplogies, Caesar not Ceasar
Popularity may have something to do with unit price
Mott's Clamato can be had for usually $2.99 CDN no Tax and over the course of several years (10), trips to Florida west coast the price of Mott's Clamato was $5.00 U.S + Tax
I assume that at less than $2.00 U.S a 48 oz of tomato juice is easier to swallow if you pardon the pun!
2
A Canadian version of the old "clam digger", Clamato, gin, tobasco, worchester and a slice of lime.
2
Won't anyone think of the bivalves?
Just kidding. Sounds pretty good. I've been drinking Worcestershire sauce straight out of the bottle since I was a kid, anyway.
10
Always happy when flying home from an overseas trip on a Canadian airline when no questions are asked when the first thing you order is a Caesar! They expect it!
11
what's the sodium level in this drink?
1
You don't really want to know... especially depending on how it's garnished!
4
Did not know it was invented in Canada. In Mexico we put beer instead of Vodka in our Clamato or Caesars, best way to cure a hangover.
5
My first Caesar was enjoyed in Mexico, though I suppose it's popularity is due to the number of Canadians who vacation at the resort where we stay. Since that first one five years ago I've adopted it as my regular summer drink at the pool.
Cheers!
3
Too spicy for me, and I looove Clamato. But only the regular kind!
check out that sodium content...
1
Canada is a great country. A great neighbor to the US. We have a lot we can learn from Canada-- much more than merely its beer and mixed drinks.
29
When the igloos melt is the best time for Americans to visit
5