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Chapter I-Appetizers

PPETIZERS are now much used as the first course at dinners and luncheons, in place of raw oysters or clams. No little ingenuity is displayed in making these tidbits attractive as well as palatable. The fruit cocktails and fruit cups should be arranged with a view to good combinations of color and the canapés should be made almost spectacular with the glossy black of caviare, the vivid red of the pimento and the white and yellow of hard boiled eggs. The word cocktail no longer implies a mixture of liquors, when used in a culinary sense, though sherry and rum are often used as a flavoring in the fruit cocktails. It is not, however, a necessity.

Fruit cocktails are served in gracefully shaped glasses or in baskets made from a half orange or grapefruit.

Canapés may be served either hot or cold.

The appetizers should always be on the table when the meal is announced. One is served to each person and should rest on a tiny doily laid on a medium sized plate.

Among the best known appetizers are the following:

CANAPÉS-These are made from stale white bread, cut in quarterinch slices and then shaped with a cutter into circles about the size of a tea biscuit. Squares, strips, triangles and rings are also suitable forms for canapés. These pieces of bread are then either fried in deep fat and drained on blotting paper, or they may be sautéed in just enough butter to keep them from burning. It is also possible to toast them or set them in the oven until they turn a delicate brown. When finished they should be nicely browned on both sides. They are then ready to be covered with any mixture preferred, either fish, eggs, cheese or game. ANCHOVY CANAPÉS-For these anchovy paste which comes in tubes may be utilized, or anchovies may be reduced to a smooth paste with a wooden spoon. Season with lemon juice and spread the paste on the prepared pieces of bread. Split two anchovies lengthways and lay them diagonally. across the canapé, marking the point where they cross by a little pyramid of riced yolk of hard boiled egg. Petal shaped pieces of the hard boiled white of egg may be placed radiating from this center pyramid.

A large anchovy curved around a circle of hard boiled egg and placed in the center of a canapé, is also effective. SARDINES CANAPÉS-Flake the sardines with a fork and season with lemon juice, salt and a few drops of worcestershire sauce. Spread the prepared bread with this mixture and decorate by placing in the center a small circle of pickled beet. Cut a slice from the end of a large olive so that it will stand firmly and place this in the center of the circle of pickled beet. A narrow border of finely chopped pickled beet may be placed around the entire circumference of the canapé with good effect. Garnish the plate with four thin slices of lemon placed symmetrically.

CAVIARE CANAPÉS-Caviare, which is the salted roe of the sturgeon, is highly esteemed by epicures as an appetizer. It is usually served with finely chopped raw onion and decorated with hard boiled egg and finely chopped pickles. A favorite arrangement is to have the canapé in the form of an oblong, two by four inches, covering half with the minced raw onion and the other half with the caviare. The striking difference in the colors is very effective. A sliver of green pepper may lay just where the two mixtures meet and little points of the green pepper extend out on each side, or a circle of the white of hard boiled egg may decorate the center of the half covered with caviare and a little mound of the riced yolk ornament the section covered by the chopped onion. LOBSTER CANAPÉS-Moisten finely chopped lobster meat with a little cream in order to make a paste and season as preferred. Spread on the fried bread, and decorate with chopped olives and lobster coral which has been forced through a sieve. Four lobster claws may project from under the canapé if more ornamentation is desired.

Crab meat, shrimps, or any smoked or canned fish, highly seasoned and prettily decorated may be utilized for canapés in place of the lobster meat, as above.

CHEESE AND OLIVE CANAPÉS-Shape bread about the size of a soda cracker. Sauté, and drain. Spread with paste made by mixing a cream cheese with a small bottle of finely chopped olives stuffed with pimentoes. Garnish with a quarter-inch border