The Ultimate Canadian Caesar

I am a true Alberta girl, minus the fact that I highly dislike country music :p. I love the mountains, fresh air, steak and my drink of choice is a good Caesar. Caesar's are not to be confused with a Bloody Mary - every time I order one in the states I am highly disappointed. They were actually invented in my home town of Calgary, Alberta back in 1969. 

There are a few reasons I drink a lot of Caesars; I love just about any drink that incorporates Vodka, I enjoy a little kick when it comes to flavour, and I basically never stop eating, so a good garnish is something for me to snack on. 

Truthfully, I just started my obsession last year. I was on a flight to London, England when my flight got delayed for 7 hours and I was stuck at YVR in the middle of the night. I ran into another girl who resides in Wales, U.K. & after a couple of minute of chatting, we decided to go to the restaurant and order some food and drinks together. She was so excited to order a Caesar as she would not be able to order one for over 6 months (they don't make them over in the U.K.) I agreed to order one with her as she was just so stoked about having one last taste of Canada. The sever brought out two massive 1.5 pint glasses - a whole lot of Caesar! I was worried because I actually had never tried one before, as I wasn't a fan of Clamato juice growing up. I typically drink sweeet or sour vodka base cocktails, which is basically the complete opposite of a savoury Caesar! After drinking the entire glass in about 30 min (which is very quick for me to finish any food/drink) I have been hooked on them ever since. 

Over the past year I've been ordering them at just about every restaurant I go to across Canada and have taken elements I like about each one and put together my own concoction. Check out my recipe below and let me know if you have a special ingredient to perfecting your Caesar! 

Please note* Recipe is per 1 glass. Due to the fact that I had a BLT earlier today, I left one of my ingredients off today's Caesar. Adding bacon to your garnish makes for a real Canadian Caesar. 

• 1 Lime 
• 2 splashes of Kosher Dill pickle juice
• 2-3 oz of Antrim vodka (Canadian) 
• 2-4 dashes of Franks red hot sauce (depends how much kick you like)
• 4 dashes of Worcester sauce
• 5 oz of Frenches Caesar mix (Canadian)
• Pepperoni sticks 
• Celery salt
• 3 dashes of fresh ground pepper 
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1/2 cup of chopped basil leaves 
• 6 Ice cubes 
• 1 Small plate 
• 1 Knife 
• Glass size of your choice

Step 1 - Take a small plate and generously fill with celery salt

Step 2 - Slice a lime into a wedge and run lime around the rim of the glass

Step 3 - Dip the rim of the glass in the celery salt and twist to cover the rim

Step 4 - Fill the glass with ice cubes

Step 5 - Pour 2-3 oz of Vodka into the glass

Step 6 - Pour 5 oz or more of Frenches Caesar Mix, 3 dashes of fresh ground pepper, 4 dashes of Worcester, 2-4 dashes of Franks red hot sauce a little lime juice and finish off the mix with pickle juice. 

Step 7 - Cut celery stalks, sprinkle some basil and stir the mix. Finish by adding a garnish - A pepperoni stick, celery, a kosher dill pickle and a piece of smoked bacon. 

Cheers!