Fish Canapes
Rub a quarter of a pound of any kind of cooked fish to a paste; season with pepper and salt, and a few drops of onion juice. Moisten with one tablespoonful of sauce tartare. Spread the above mixture on rounds of buttered brown bread, sprinkle over top finely chopped dill pickles.
A straightforward fish-paste canapé that depends almost entirely on the quality of the fish and the dryness of the bread. Two adjustments make it work on a modern table.
- Which fish"Any kind of cooked fish" meant leftovers — boiled cod, halibut, salmon, or the remains of a baked whitefish. Canned salmon or tuna, or hot-smoked trout, all work; drain and flake thoroughly, since a wet paste will soak the bread within minutes.
- Rub to a pasteThe original expects a fork, a sieve or a mortar. A few pulses in a food processor does it, but stop while some texture remains — fully puréed fish turns gummy and tastes flat.
- Onion juiceGrate a peeled onion on the fine side of a box grater and use the liquid that collects, or press grated onion in a sieve. A few drops is genuinely all that is meant; more will dominate a quarter pound of mild fish.
- Sauce tartareA period tartare was generally mayonnaise with chopped capers, pickle and herbs, and was often looser than the bottled version. One tablespoon of commercial tartar sauce is close enough, though you may want a squeeze of lemon to sharpen it.
- Brown breadMost likely a wholemeal or graham loaf rather than the steamed Boston brown bread, though the term was used for both. Cut thin, butter to the edges as a moisture barrier, then stamp out rounds with a 1½-inch cutter.
- Dill picklesChop fine and blot on a towel before sprinkling. Undrained pickle weeps brine over the surface and the canapés go grey and soft.
- Yield and timingA quarter pound of fish spreads roughly twenty to twenty-four small rounds. Assemble no more than an hour ahead and keep covered and chilled; the paste itself can be made a day in advance.
Canapés arrived in American entertaining from French service, where the word means a couch — the bread being traditionally likened to a seat for the garnish — and by the early twentieth century they were a common feature of luncheons, card parties and receptions in books like this one. Recipes of this type were also frankly economical: the fish is leftover, the seasoning comes from the pickle jar and a bottle of tartare, and the whole thing turns Monday's boiled cod into something presentable on a doily. Brown bread was also paired with fish paste in sandwich and afternoon-tea collections of the period.