One of my favorite things about visiting America is trying to order a Bloody Caesar cocktail at a bar. It generally goes a little something like this…
Bartender: How’s it going?
Chad: Doing well, thanks, and yourself?
Bartender: Great! What can I get you?
Chad: I would like a Bloody Caesar, please.
Bartender: You mean, a Bloody Mary?
Chad: No, a Bloody Caesar. You know… the drink with the clam juice?
Bartender: Clam juice?!?!?
Only once in all my years of travelling have I meet an American server or bartender that had any idea what I was talking about. She knew, because she had a relative in Canada and had come to visit once. I was impressed.
But here’s the thing: most of you probably haven’t experienced the joys of a delicious Bloody Caesar. That’s a shame, and so today I’m going to help all you awesome American readers be a little more Canadian. Today I’m sharing a Bloody Caesar recipe that will make you weep with joy, or maybe just weep if you really don’t like the taste of clam juice. Either way, there will be weeping.
Raimey Bristowe is an instructor at the Toronto Institute of Bartending. He’s knows how to make a mean Caesar, and now you do as well.
Invented in Calgary, Alberta in 1969 by restaurateur Walter Chell, the so-called Caesar or Bloody Caesar went on to become one of the most popular cocktails in Canada. As you learned in the video, the key ingredients are clam broth and Worcestershire sauce, which I admit are very, very strange. Why the Caesar went on to become so popular here in Canada is a mystery. The only thing I can say is that, hey, we’re Canadian… we’re kind of weird.
I hope you come to enjoy the Bloody Caesar as much as I do. Once you’ve made one, you’ll quickly realize that there are hundreds of different takes on this classic drink, with versions of the cocktail containing everything from bacon to sauerkraut. Now you know.
