Friday, July 1, 2011

Coconut water and Caesars on Canada Day!

Today is Canada Day! It feels good to be here and part of it and actually belong here this time round. We went out to enjoy some of the festivities and among the tasty things we found along the way was a young coconut. The lovely man hacked it open for us and told us to come back when we had drunk it and he would open it up so we could eat the inside.


It is hard to describe the flavour of coconut water, it isn't overly sweet I can tell you that much. It is very refreshing. My husband drinks it with rum at home and loves it. Apparently it is really good for you being full of electrolytes.We did get it cut open after we had drunk it all and the 'flesh' was still in a very thin jelly form on the shell edge, almost translucent, though slightly thicker and firmer at the base where it would have been settling and the development is faster. Eventually the water would turn into sweet flesh with the smallest amount of cream and liquid remaining, what an amazing ripening process! We scraped the jelly out with a wedge of the shell to eat. The same lovely old man warned my husband that it was an aphrodisiac and to be careful! All said with a glint in his eye and a big chuckle! The coconut was definitely being sold by this man as he had previously told us it was good for the kidneys and eyesight. 

Once we were home it was time to have a real Canadian drink and a Caesar it was! I had mine without vodka and it is just as nice as with (in my opinion!). 


The basis of the drink is Clamato which is described as a tomato/clam cocktail. It is pretty much seasoned tomato juice with powdered clam broth in it. It is thinner than regular tomato juice. To start you rub the rim of your glass with a lime wedge then dunk it into some Caesar Rimmer (which is a salty/spicy powder with pepper, onion and celery salt in it). Add some ice cubes to the glass, some lime juice (from 1 or 2 wedges, however much you like), a few shakes of Worcester sauce, some hot sauce (if you want, of whatever variety you like, Tabasco etc), some salt and pepper and then a shot of vodka if you are having any (we bought a cheap variety for this occasion because you can't really taste it through all the rest of the stuff anyway). Fill the glass up with Clamato and garnish with whatever you want; celery is traditional but you find all kinds of things in them from prawns on a stick, to pickled beans, lemons, pickled onions, pickles to name a few. You can also make all kinds of versions of the Caesar itself using different alcohol and different flavours i.e pickle juice and horseradish!

The Caesar is also a very refreshing drink, and so packed with flavour. Your mouth is alive and lips tingling from the rimmer and heat and acid. It really is the perfect union of salts and spices. This makes the Bloody Mary pale in comparison.


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