January 30

A cold canapé from the dinner calendar at the back of the book: pastry rounds, marinated tomato, anchovy and egg. Almost all the work is in the pastry base, and the assembly must happen at the last minute.

• Slice thicknessThe "14 inch" of the text is almost certainly a mangled 1/4 inch: thin enough to sit flat on the pastry, thick enough not to collapse once dressed. "Small round tomatoes" suggests something larger than a cherry tomato, but the book gives no further guide.
• Short paste"Short paste" is plain shortcrust. The recipe gives no baking direction, so the rounds have to be rolled thin, cut slightly wider than the tomato slices, and baked blind in a moderately hot oven until dry and pale gold. They must be crisp and fully cooked, since nothing is baked afterwards.
• Crisco in the pastryThe book expects Crisco as the shortening throughout; any solid vegetable shortening behaves the same way, and butter will give more flavour with slightly less snap.
• The marinadeMelted shortening with vinegar, salt and pepper is a vinaigrette in period dress. No proportions or timing are given, so dress the slices to taste and let them stand briefly. Drain them well before they meet the pastry or the base goes soft within minutes.
• Anchovy fillets"Rolled fillet anchovy" means a fillet coiled into a spiral; take oil-packed fillets, pat them dry and roll each one. One per croute is enough -- they are far saltier than the tomato dressing.
• GarnishThe yolk may be sieved or grated over the top, though the recipe says only "1 hard-cooked egg yolk." Hard-boil and cool the egg before separating it. "White endive" most likely means the pale forced chicory sold as Belgian endive or witloof, a single inner leaf trimmed to a small blade.
• Assembly and yieldBuild these shortly before serving. The recipe gives no quantities; figure two or three per person as a first course or with drinks.