The Canadian Caesar was created in Calgary in  1969  by Walter Chell who was charged with the challenge to create a signature cocktail  for the opening of a new Italian restaurant. Italian heritage himself he spent months experimenting  and took inspiration from one of his own favourite dishes spaghetti Vongole, which is a rich tomato based sauce with clams. He hand mashed the clams , mixed it with tomato juice added Vodka, ice, worcestershire, tabasco, pickle juice, rimmed the glass with celery salt and garnished with Celery. Around the same time a company in in California invited Chell to work with them making the tomato mixer now called Clamato  which is now seen throughout the Canada.

So I was lucky to be introduced to my first taste of Caesar in Emerald Lake Lodge.  I had never heard of one, it sounded interesting untill they mentioned the clam part. I put my brave face on and was delighted with that first experience , it had gin instead of vodka and had a beautiful pickled asparagus and green olives. From then on it was a quest to try more and a great way to interact with locals as they all wanted to tell you how and where to find the best.From the moment you order, your mind races: Will my Caesar be adorned with traditional celery? A spicy pickled bean? Perhaps an olive? Is this place fancy enough for shrimp? Or have I, at long last, stumbled upon on the elusive pickled asparagus?

With that in mind we thought it was important that our clients on our May 2015 tour of the Rockies taste this Canadian drink.  We stopped at a scenic spot along the Bow Valley parkway Alberta and whipped up our version with a pickled bean, olives and all the trimmings. From then on they too made it their quest to sample and find their favourite.

Come to Canada with Global Tour Specialists in 2016 and taste your first Caesar with us