Caesar
A twist on Bloody Mary
Prep time:
Vodka and clam-and-tomato juice — Clamato — with Worcestershire, hot sauce and a celery salt rim. Walter Chell created it in 1969 for the new Italian restaurant at the Calgary Inn, and today it is considered Canada’s national cocktail. That is the difference from a Bloody Mary: the clam, which gives it a briny depth that tomato alone does not have.
Ingredients
- 45 ml vodka
- 120 ml Clamato
- 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 2 dashes hot sauce
- A pinch of black pepper
- Celery salt for the rim
- A lime wedge and a celery stalk
- Ice cubes
Preparation
- Run the lime wedge round the rim of the glass and dip it in celery salt.
- Fill the glass with ice, taking care not to touch the rim.
- Add the vodka, Worcestershire, hot sauce and pepper, and top with the Clamato.
- Stir until the outside of the glass is cold, and finish with the celery stalk and lime wedge.
Bartender’s notes
What if I can’t find Clamato?
You can imitate it. Mix four parts tomato juice with one part of the liquid from a can of clams in brine, and add a pinch of sugar, which Clamato contains and you can taste. It will not be identical, but it keeps what matters: the taste of the sea that sets it apart from a Bloody Mary.
Can you make it without alcohol?
Yes, and it is one of the mocktails that works best, because the vodka adds almost no flavour: the Clamato, the sauces and the celery salt do all the work. Leave out the vodka, add a little more Clamato and a squeeze of lime so it does not fall flat. In Canada it is ordered as a Virgin Caesar.
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