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Sardine Canapes
Pound boneless and skinless sardines to a paste; moisten with a little olive oil, and a dash of lemon juice; spread mixture on thin rounds of toasted bread. Arrange leaves of watercress around the edge and put finely chopped hard-boiled egg in the centre.
A simple canapé that depends almost entirely on the quality of the tinned fish and the crispness of the base. Two details in the original need translating for a modern cook.
- The sardinesBoneless, skinless sardines in oil are still sold, but tins packed in water or tomato sauce will make a wetter paste; drain them well and hold back most of the added oil. Two standard 3.75 oz tins will cover roughly 24 small rounds.
- PoundingA mortar avoids the risk of a food processor whipping the oil and turning the mixture gluey. A fork against the side of a bowl will also work, though the recipe asks for the fish pounded to a paste.
- SeasoningThe recipe gives no salt or pepper. Tinned sardines are salty, so taste before spreading; most modern tins take a good grind of black pepper and often a little more lemon than "a dash."
- The toast roundsCut rounds from thin-sliced bread with a 1.5 inch cutter and toast or dry them in a 350F oven until crisp all through, not merely browned. Soft toast collapses under an oily spread within minutes.
- Assembly timingSpread no more than half an hour before serving. Oiled fish paste on toast goes limp quickly, and the watercress wilts once it touches the fat.
- The egg centrePushing the hard-boiled egg through a fine sieve rather than chopping it gives a finer, more even crumb that sits on the surface instead of sliding off, though the recipe asks for it chopped.
- YieldReckon three or four per person as a first bite with drinks.
Canapés of this kind belong to the period when the tin can had made oily fish a year-round pantry staple and sandwich and canapé books were a publishing genre of their own. Sardines packed in oil came largely from the French Atlantic coast and later from Maine and California, and were among the canned foods that carried a degree of respectability rather than being merely cheap. The pattern here — a pounded savoury paste on a crisp base, ringed with something green and finished with sieved egg — follows French hors d'oeuvre garnishing practice, and similar recipes appear with anchovy, ham, cheese or shrimp in place of the sardine. Watercress was a common garnish of the day: cheap, peppery, and sold in bunches by street vendors in London.