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Caesar
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:Bloody Caesar, bloody Caesar, bloody caesar
n. — Food & Drink
an alcoholic drink with the main ingredients Clamato juice (tomato juice and clam juice) and vodka, mixed with spices (see Image 1).
Type: 1. Origin — First attested in the 1973 quotation on a Toronto eatery from The Globe and Mail, the drink is supposedly a Calgary invention. Reportedly invented by a Walter Chell, there is dispute as to its precise origins (see the 1988 Vancouver Sun quotation and the 2009 quotation). The term is uncommon in non-Canadian sources and, if used, it is usually as a Canadian reference. Chart 1 reveals that Bloody Caesars have some currency in the UK. Over the course of the late 20th century, Caesar became the prevalent form, ousting original forms (bloody Caesar) that were formed by analogy to the drink Bloody Mary. The drink, which is often served with a stick of celery and flavoured salt along the rim of the glass, is also available without alcohol; see, for example, the second 1988 quotation for an explanation.
Quotations
1973
Suggestions from the special drink trolley . . . Bloody Caesar, Screwdriver, Champagne . . . the price for all this bounty . . . $3.95 [...]
1981
There are nights when Audrey Elliot is part of this crowd. Tonight, however, she needs a quieter place to sip her bloody Caesar.
1981
Instead of reaching for the Amaretto and the sugar bowl, barkeeps delve into the crisper and spice rack for celery seed, Tabasco, Worcestershire, lashings of fresh-ground (insist) pepper and stalks of celery, scallion and cucumber. Of course, the savories are Bloody Mary and her siblings, Bloody Caesar, Bloody Bull and Bullshot.
My favorite among them, however, is the elusive Bloody Caesar (baffling and silly name), made with a prepared mixture of tomato and clam juices. The flavor is delicate, and it takes lots of lemon and Tabasco, but beware serving them unexpected to people who harbor shellfish allergies; they can end up, after a sip or two, resembling the Elephant Man.
1982
"You've been seen in all the right places, seen with just the right faces. What is hip?" A prime example of "seen in all the right places" hipdom is sitting in the patio behind Bemelmans, lunching on bloody caesars.
1988
A tall glass of tomato juice with four drops of Tabasco, a couple of splashes of Worcestershire sauce, a grind of pepper and a hit of salt is the classic Bloody Mary without affecting the blood.
Substitute clamato juice and rim the glass with celery salt or the special spice and herb blend called Rim It, and you have a Bloody Caesar sans vodka.
1988
Big Rock beer, the Calgary Tower and the Olympic Saddledome all rate highly. So do the Bloody Caesars at the Owl's Nest - the original drink, says the magazine. It seems Walter Schell concocted the first Caesar to mark the opening of the Westin Hotel's cozy bar in 1972. For the uninitiated, it's a tangy blend of vodka, clamato juice and spices whose popularity extends coast to coast.
1996
Next time you make a bloody caesar, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union wants you to hold the Clamato juice.
Labels boast the drink is "Canada's original" tomato-clam cocktail but that hasn't stopped Mott's from shifting production to the United States, union director Tom Kukovica said Tuesday as he called for a consumer boycott.
1998
Why not celebrate March with a Bloody Caesar? It wasn't known in Julius' time; it was invented in a Calgary bar in 1969.
3-4 ice cubes
1 ounce vodka
4 ounces (1/2 cup) clamato juice
2 dashes Tabasco sauce
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
2008
Redder than sin, redder than Joe McCarthy's worst nightmare, redder than a fabulous Bloody Caesar.
2009
In the book Difford mentions Canada's signature cocktail, the Bloody Caesar, which was created by bartender Walter Chell in 1969 to celebrate the opening of Marco's Italian Restaurant at the Calgary Inn. Chell was inspired by the flavours of Spaghetti Vongole (spaghetti with clams) and named the drink after the Roman emperor. Difford's wry comment: "A peculiarly Canadian fishy twist on the classic Bloody Mary."
Images
Image 1: A Caesar (without celery stick). Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: R. Love
