A Caesar is a cocktail created and consumed primarily in Canada. It typically contains vodka, Clamato, 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.
Origin
<!-- Deleted image removed: thumb|Walter Chell of the Calgary Inn, inventory of the "Bloody Caesar" -->
'Bloody Mary a La Milo' in the 1951 Ted Saucier cocktail book titled 'Bottoms Up' (page 45), appears to be the first published cocktail recipe that includes vodka, tomato juice, clam juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Saucier credits the recipe to Milo J. Sutliff, Publisher, New York. This pre-dates the version at the Polonaise nightclub in Manhattan, which debuted in November 1953. The drink was introduced as the "Smirnoff Smiler" by owner Paul Pawlowski. In December 1953, columnist Walter Winchell reported that the drink was seasoned with "a dash of Wooooshhhtasheer Sauce".
In 1959, cartoonist and creator of The Addams Family, Charles Addams (employed by the New Yorker magazine, a few blocks from the Polonaise) claimed he invented the "Gravel Gertie", a cocktail of clam/tomato juice and vodka seasoned with Tabasco sauce.
In 1962, Carl La Marca, bar manager at the Baker Hotel in Dallas, invented the "Imperial Clam Digger", adding a basil garnish and dash of lime to an existing version of the "Smirnoff Smiler", called the "Clam Digger".
In October 1968, Seagram president Victor Fischel and Mott's Clamato marketer Ray Anrig claimed to have invented the seasoned tomato/clam/vodka cocktail, the "Clamdigger" earlier in 1968, in Manhattan. Seagram, headquartered 2 blocks from the Polonaise, filed a trademark application on the name "Clamdigger" claiming first use on May 31, 1968. From late 1968 to the end of 1969, Seagram and Mott's ran a major advertising promotion of the "Clam Digger" cocktail recipe in national magazines.
The Caesar was invented in 1969 by restaurant manager Walter Chell of the Calgary Inn (today the Westin Hotel) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Chell 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". It spread throughout Western Canada, then to the east.
The Mott's company was independently developing Clamato, a mixture of clam and tomato juices, at the same time the Caesar was invented. Sales of Clamato were initially slow: Mott's sold only 500 cases of Clamato in 1970, By 1994, 70% of Mott's Clamato sales in Canada were made to mix Caesars, while half of all Clamato sales were made in Western Canada.
In the United States, the Caesar is typically available at bars along the Canada–United States border. In Europe, the drink can be found wherever there are higher concentrations of Canadians. The drink's anonymity outside Canada has continued in spite of concerted marketing efforts.
While Mott's Clamato continues to be synonymous with the cocktail, other producers have begun offering alternative Caesar mixes. Walter Caesar (named in honour of Chell) was launched in 2013 to offer an 'all-natural' alternative to Clamato. Walter Caesar also became the first Caesar mix in Canada to be approved by Ocean Wise by using ocean-friendly clam juice from the North Atlantic.
The Caesar is popular as a hangover "cure", though its effectiveness has been questioned.
Mott's holds an annual "Best Caesar in Town" competition as part of the Prince Edward Island International Shellfish Festival. Contests held across Canada to celebrate the cocktail's 40th anniversary in 2009 encouraged variants that featured the glass rimmed with Tim Hortons coffee grounds, Caesars with maple syrup, and Caesars with bacon-infused vodka.
Preparation
Basic preparation of a Caesar follows the "one, two, three, four" rule. The recipe calls for of vodka, two dashes of hot sauce, three dashes of salt and pepper, four dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and the glass topped up with clamato. and one without alcohol is a "Virgin Caesar". The Toronto Institute of Bartending operates a "Caesar School" in various locations across Canada that teaches bartenders how to mix several variants of the drink.
See also
- Canadian cuisine
- List of Canadian inventions and discoveries
- List of cocktails
- Queen Mary (cocktail)
- Tomato beer