Spoken like a gentleman of distinction and good taste!
Just a very small nitpicky point of information: although Montreal Steak Spice does come in a semi-liquid form (basically a thick paste) it is classically a dry rub that comes in a jar. If we had left these condiments for the Danish soldiers, such that they could enjoy a tasty Caesar before dinner, and then grill a fine rib steak well rubbed with Montreal Steak Spice, and then finish it off with a glass of Ontario icewine for dessert, this conflict would have been over long ago!
Treacherous tasteless heathen, disparaging Canada’s National Cocktail!
True story: after getting a tooth yanked last week, I was told to be careful what foods I ate for the first 24 hours, and I figured to be extra careful I’d stick to a liquid diet. Naturally, I immediately thought of the noble Caesar! Caesars figured prominently that first day, combining three essential nutrients from the food pyramid: vegetables, seafood, and alcohol. All in a refreshing, tangy beverage bearing our national colour.
The list of delicious beverages which include clam juice is not lengthy. Success inspires imitators. Very few of my favourite drinks taste like soup.
Food has magical powers. But gifting someone a bottle of spice so that they can enjoy it on a good steak is kind of like those recipes on the packages of cheap ramen noodles that suggest you can make a delicious meal by merely adding lobster.
Au contraire, my traitorous Caesar-hating friend! Yes, food has magical powers, and that’s precisely why helping someone prepare it perfectly with just the right seasonings is the kind of mark of friendship and camaraderie that the Danes would surely appreciate!
As for Caesars allegedly resembling soup, that is vile calumny! You know what drink resembles soup? That gauche American alternative to the lovely Caesar, the Bloody Mary. A Bloody Mary is basically Campbell’s tomato soup with vodka in it. A Caesar, however, because it’s well-mixed with clam juice, has both the right consistency and the right light taste for a cocktail. To those who might ask, who is to say what is a good cocktail and what isn’t, the answer is: I am. I have spoken.
I tried to look up whether Caesars are popular in Denmark or, for that matter, in France, the home of classically great food. I did find an article saying that Denmark has donated a bunch of Caesars to Ukraine, which I thought was highly commendable of them, but it turns out that “Caesar” in this case refers to self-propelled howitzers of French manufacture. Apparently the French admire Caesars so much that they named their latest artillery after them, which should definitely tell you something.
The list of award winning Canadian whiskies is not huge. You don’t see Laphroaig or Lagavulin feeling the need to incentivize global adventurers or hide crates on Ellesmere Island to boost image and sales. However, Crown Royal Northern Harvest, from Alberta, won some high ratings and international awards in 2020. It’s great value, much better than CC, though not quite as good as the above Scottish ones in my opinion.
It tells me that the French recognize the ability of a Caesar to kill indiscriminately. And I must correct your misinformation - A Bloody Mary isn’t vodka and Campbell’s tomato soup. It’s vodka and Heinz cocktail sauce!
Apparently, Canada has some problems with having enough military cooks. Not the greatest of their worries. ”Not every contribution is monetary. Canada stands with those enjoying mediocre beverages, recognizing their freedom to do so” and the very marginal improvements offered by exotic mixers and garnishes (see Letterkenny, season 10, The Cocktail Competition).
Yeah. Hell, I’m Canadian, and I can’t stand Caesars. Neither can my body; let’s just say, bad things happen, and I won’t elaborate. And I’ve had too many well-meaning bartenders think I wanted a Caesar, when I distinctly asked for a Mary. I’ve sent back enough well-meaning Caesars to know that you do not even try to order a Bloody Mary in Canada.
Meh. I can make mine at home, and I’ve got a better recipe than any bar.
Funny thing is I was just referring to clamato juice all by itself as a concoction, but it turns out that comment fits just like you describe a Caesar. Blech!
Oh, I fully understand the seasoning is dry rub. Commonly sold in glass containers about 1-1/4" diameter x 3 to 4" high. With the mouth the same diameter as the glass and a screw-top lid that may or may not also incorporate a shaker.
That’s a package I call a “bottle”. Large due to being made of glass. Although some folks do call those “jars” as well.
If your gastrointestinal tract has problems with tomato products and a very common seafood, perhaps you have some extraordinary allergies or are not from Earth, since both are very common in Italian cooking (the Caesar was created to celebrate the opening of a new Italian restaurant in Calgary). Canadians drink some 400 million Caesars annually, and in 2006 the CBC rated it among the top Canadian inventions. The Thursday before Victoria day is National Caesar Day in Canada. There are Caesar-making bartending courses and contests all over the place. It would appear that your views on the matter aren’t universally accepted.
If I ever go to Canada again I will try it. But it sounds by your recipe like too much tomato, too little vodka, and I don’t know of any bar around my place that has clam juice among its standard ingredients. Celery stalks… well, anything related to stalking is bad, but being stalked by celery? Awww. The Danes might have interpreted it as a casus belli had the Canadians left that instead of the customary whisky bottle, but they could have retaliated:
Good thing the dispute was settled peacefully instead.
PS: 400 million drinks with clam juice in them, each year? Wow. What do you do with the clams afterwards? It would be a waste to throw them away, would it not? Do you eat them?
I would not eat them in a boat
I would not drink them with a goat
The Caesar is a sorry scam
No other drinks are made from clam
I do not want it, Clam-You-Is
It tastes of wet tomato whiz.
Even other Canadians here are shaking their heads. If forty million Canucks down 400m, that really means 1m Canucks each drink 400 a year. Alcoholics drink it for the nutrition: the celery (it’s a vegetable!) and vague beef flavouring.
Not the way I make it! But there are a lot of different recipes and a lot of variations. I like mine quite simple and non-spicy. In fact, when small single-serving cans of plain Motts clamato were available at my local grocery, I would make an enjoyable Caesar with nothing more than a mixture of one-third vodka and two-thirds clamato sprinkled with Caesar rimmer (celery salt and spices) and nothing else – no Tabasco, no Worcestershire, no horseradish (an option that some like). I’d throw in a slice of lime and a celery stick if I had one. In addition to a celery stalk, a local restaurant and bar serves Caesars with a bunch of mildly hot peppers on a skewer.
The Caesar is a hearty and filling beverage that is delicious and refreshing if you’re in the mood for it, but it’s not subtle, even if only mildly spiced. Sometimes I can drink two of them or even three, other times one is sufficient. As I get older I find that it is frankly not a great choice for a before-dinner drink at a restaurant because it does tend to be filling. You can come in hungry, order a large Caesar festooned with celery and hot peppers, and when you’re done you’re ready to go home again!
A recent episode of the small-town Canadian TV show Letterkenny (The Dealership) featured a Caesar making competition. The “winning recipe” included a Slim Jim. Here are the recipes, including exotic things like dill pickle juice, seafood, beef jerky…
That’s what is in a proper Bloody Mary: tomato juice, vodka, Worcestershire, hot sauce, horseradish, pepper, lemon juice, celery salt. If you can’t see through it, it isn’t doing you a lick of good!
…in 2006 the CBC rated it among the top Canadian inventions.
If you ever need an example of “damning with faint praise”…look no further.
But there are a lot of different recipes and a lot of variations. I like mine quite simple and non-spicy. In fact, when small single-serving cans of plain Motts clamato were available at my local grocery, I would make an enjoyable Caesar with nothing more than a mixture of one-third vodka and two-thirds clamato sprinkled with Caesar rimmer (celery salt and spices) and nothing else – no Tabasco, no Worcestershire, no horseradish (an option that some like). I’d throw in a slice of lime and a celery stick if I had one. In addition to a celery stalk, a local restaurant and bar serves Caesars with a bunch of mildly hot peppers on a skewer.