To celebrate the release of Christmas at Downton Abbey on Blu-ray and DVD (available from 26th December), Hus Vedat, Executive Chef of the St Ermin’s Hotel, has compiled some traditional canapé recipes from the Downton Abbey era. They tell us that even cousin Violet would approve…
Crab Meat Canapés (1917)
Ingredients
- 1 cup crab meat
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon horseradish
Instructions
Chop the crab meat, mix well with seasonings, and spread on thin rounds of untoasted brown bread. Garnish with small cube of lemon
Pâté de Foie Gras Canapés (1912)
Ingredients
- one tureen of foie gras
- 4 tablespoons soft butter
- dash of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 drops onion juice
- 6 slices bread
- egg white and olives to serve
Instructions
- For twenty-four sandwiches take one tureen of foie gras. Remove the fat, and mash the foie gras to a perfectly smooth paste, adding gradually four tablespoonfuls of soft butter.
- Add a dash of cayenne pepper and a half teaspoonful of salt and about ten drops of onion juice, and press the whole through a sieve.
- Cut slices of bread into inventive shapes and toast; crescents are very pretty. Cover each slice thickly with this paste; garnish with hard-boiled white of egg, cut into diamonds or tiny crescents, and olives cut into rings. Arrange neatly, and they are ready to serve.
Tomato Canapés (1920)
Ingredients
- tomatoes
- salt
- pepper
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1/2 teaspoon of mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 tablespoon of parsley
- hard-boiled egg
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes into very thin slices and then place on a plate and season with salt and pepper.
- Now place butter, mustard, paprika, and parsley on a plate. Work to a nice smooth paste and then spread lightly over the tomatoes. Place on a small round cracker and garnish with a slice of hard-boiled egg
La Brete Canapés (1920)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of cooked mackerel
- 1 small onion, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon of mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
Instructions
- Pick the fish from the backbone of a cooked mackerel, adding any left-over portions. There need be only about two tablespoons.
- Rub the fish through a sieve. Add the rest of the ingredients, work to a paste and then spread on thin toasted strips of bread.