So, a couple of days ago, I learned that a friend of mine likes Clamato, a blend of tomato juice and clam broth. Live and learn, live and learn... For some obscure reason, I decided to look up Clamato on the Intert00bz, and was informed that the "National Cocktail" of Canada is the Caesar, a Clamato and vodka blend similar to a clammy Bloody Mary. Googling "Canada's Number One Cocktail" yielded a paucity of results, but all were Clamato related. Now I would have suspected that Canada's number one cocktail would be a rum and coke, or a gin and tonic, or, giving an allowance for patriotic stirrings, Canadian whisky and soda, but Lisa of the Toronto Institute of Bartending assures me that the Classic Caesar is the real deal:
Now, who the hell would be so churlish as to doubt Lisa?
Personally, being a nerd of a certain age, I would combine Cointreau, cilantro, and Clamato in an unholy blend and call it a Trow toe, because I think it would have this effect on one's stomach.
Worse: Here in Los Angeles (May only be local, could be popular w/ Latinos, who knows?) Budweiser (Bad enough, ha ha.) can be purchased w/ Clamato already in it.
ReplyDeleteCould this Bud cum Clamato possibly be consumed as a "performance enhancer"? If so, it will hopefully cut down on the black market for turtle eggs.
ReplyDeleteI'm Canadian, and I love the fucking things. They're damn tasty. It's not like Clamato tastes particularly like clams in the first place; it tastes like salty tomato juice with the tinny taste taken out. (Compared to Clamato, tomato juice is disgusting and tastes like watered-down ketchup.)
ReplyDeleteYou make 'em by rimming a glass with celery salt, add the juice of 1/4 lime, a shot of hot sauce, some Worcestershire sauce, as much vodka as you like, and fill with Clamato. Garnish with a celery stalk. (A local bar uses a hot pickled green bean, which is delicious, but $7 Caesars get steep in a hurry.)
I think a beer with Clamato might be some kind of weird variation on an Alberta Red-Eye, which is beer, tomato juice, and a raw egg. (Now *that's* gross.)
Thanks for the perspective... now I think I must try one. I am no stranger to the "soup as cocktail" concept- a regular at a bar I frequented started a trend by ordering a bull shot.
ReplyDeleteI prefer my Bloodies made with V-8.
ReplyDeleteSpicy hot is a good way to get the proceedings started.
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May I call you "B to the 4th" from now on? Curiously, given the Canadian connection, I was introduced to the addictive deliciosity of Clamato in an Adirondack canoe rehabilitation shop in a tiny NY town called Victory---not too far from the Canadian border . . .
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