Home › Egg › No. 2 (Chop equal amount of capers)
No. 2 (Chop equal amount of capers)
Chop equal amount of capers and olives fine, season with celery salt and paprika, add a little olive oil or melted butter, mix until smooth. Spread on slices of lightly buttered white bread.
A caper-and-olive spread with no binder but fat, so the balance of salt and moisture is everything. Note that although it sits in the Egg chapter, the printed text names no egg — either the compiler grouped it loosely or a line of chopped hard-boiled egg dropped out in setting; two chopped hard-boiled eggs folded in makes it behave like the neighbouring recipes.
- Rinse and dry the capersBrined capers straight from the jar will make the paste weep and taste only of salt. Drain, rinse, and blot dry before chopping; salt-packed capers need a longer soak and a thorough rinse.
- Which olivesIn books of this period "olives" generally meant plain green olives in brine, Spanish or Californian, rather than oil-cured black or kalamata. Pit them, chop fine, and press out the liquid in a towel.
- Celery salt is the seasoning, not an afterthoughtIt carries the whole spread. Add it a pinch at a time and taste, since the capers and olives are already salty; you may need none at all beyond a light dusting.
- Fat and textureMelted butter sets firm when chilled and holds the spread together on the bread; olive oil stays loose and will soak into the crumb. If you want slices that cut cleanly, use softened rather than melted butter and work it in until smooth.
- "Lightly buttered white bread"The butter on the bread is a moisture barrier, not flavour — spread it thinly right to the edges so the crumb does not go soggy. A close-textured sandwich loaf cuts better than an open artisan crumb.
- QuantityAbout a third of a cup each of capers and olives, chopped, dresses roughly six slices of bread, or three sandwiches trimmed and quartered for a tea plate.
- Make aheadResting the spread an hour or so in the refrigerator lets the celery salt dissolve through it, and it should keep a few days covered. Assemble the sandwiches close to serving.
This comes from a genre of small American cookery books that appeared around 1900, when the sandwich, without ceasing to be a lunch-pail item, also became a mainstay of the afternoon tea, the card party and the ladies' luncheon extless small, crustless, highly seasoned bites rather than a slab of meat. Capers and olives were both sold in glass by grocers of the period, and their appearance here signals a spread meant to look and taste faintly continental. Celery salt and paprika turn up constantly in books of this decade: paprika, in particular, was the fashionable garnish of the Edwardian table, leaving red flecks on a pale spread as well as lending its mild flavour.