Urban Deli Tag clam juice

Last night I put together an idea I had in my head for several days. I really wanted to make a clear Caesar cocktail so I set to the task with some inspiration from Jamie Oliver’s book, Jamie At Home. In that book he makes a tomato consommé. My recipe is as follows:

Yield: Approximately 1 litre of “tomato water”.

15 or so tomatoes
1/3 stalk of lemongrass
2 stalks of celery
3 or 4 slivers of anchovies
juice of half a lime, the zest of the whole lime
juice of half a lemon, the zest of the whole lemon
Several squirts of Tabasco
Several squirts of Worcestershire sauce
2 ounces of clam juice
2 chili peppers (or to taste)
2 cloves of garlic
chopped parsley (small handful)

Food process everything but the parsley. Add parsley and the squeezed lime and lemon into the bowl of your processed tomato slurry. Wrap in tea towel and/or cheesecloth and let it drip into a bowl for several hours. Squeeze out remaining liquid near the end.

Rim a glass with celery salt, pour in some ice cubes, 1.5 ounces of good quality vodka, and pour in tomato water. Garnish and serve.

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Bio: Dan Jones is a food, drink, and travel writer from Saint John. Follow him on Twitter: @danjjj

Saint John Alehouse (SJAH) recently held a staff Caesar making competition between co-owner Pete Stoddart and manager Shawn Horgan. The Caesar, when done well, is a divine cocktail that crosses the line between refreshing and savoury.

After seeing a twitter update about the contest made by @SJAH_NB I quickly asked if I could help judge the event. So, by 10 PM I had made my way Uptown to take part in this fun event.

Pete’s Caesar was up first and was quite true to the traditional Caesar with some modifications. First, Pete infused celery stalks in lime rind and juice. He seasoned the drink with lemon pepper rather than regular pepper and served the drink in a hollowed out orange pepper that lent some of its fresh sweetness to the drink.

Shawn’s Caesar was basically its own cocktail inspired by a Caesar and was flavoured with soy sauce, ginger, basil, and was made with a homemade tomato and clam juice. Pete squeaked by with a win at 4 votes to 3.

Find out about the next competition by following @SJAH_NB on twitter.

(The Caesar – photo by Chinena Smith.)

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Bio: Dan Jones is a food, drink, and travel writer from Saint John. Follow him on twitter: @danjjj