Food

Cool canapes: ’50s-style appetizers morph into truly gourmet bites

By Lauren Chapin
Kansas City Star
12-24-2003

And you thought canapes went the way of embroidered aprons and pearls, brushed aluminum canister sets and casseroles made with prefab foods. We’re here to say canapes are cool. Taking our cues from the past, we’re giving this year’s entertaining season a vintage twist — ’50-style canapes — with a little camp and a lot of class. Chex Mix flavored with truffle oil, anyone? Canapes are defined as pieces of fried French bread slathered with a rich pate. Good, but Americans housewives rarely adapt without tweaking the ingredients or their presentation. It’s no wonder that as early as October 1938 — egged on by American Home — hostesses were encouraged to serve their canapes in new dust pans or in galvanized iron chicken feeders, each little feeding hole plugged by an olive or speared with celery sticks, according to Sylvia Lovegren’s Fashionable Food (Macmillan, 1995). The 1940s cocktail craze was still going strong and ambitious hostesses threw cocktail parties replete with all manner of nibbles: crackers covered with toppings, stuffed mushrooms, Swedish meatballs and clam dip. By the ’50s, women were no longer housewives but homemakers intent on creating domestic bliss in their all-electric kitchens, with shiny appliances like electric skillets, toasters, in-house grills and dishwashers. The code word was “gourmet,” by way of canned goods, potted meats and Velveeta. Thus kebabs could be made with Spam, cream of chicken soup could fill in for bechamel sauce, and jars of baby food beets and carrots could be the basis of borscht. Luckily, this time around, there isn’t a can of soup or a jar of baby food in sight. The key to today’s canapes is great ingredients, like good brie and real butter — not that newfangled margarine of the ’50s. Celery Sticks with Whipped Brie Makes 16-20 sticks 4 to 6 ounces brie, at room temperature 2 ounces unsalted butter, softened at room temperature 16 to 20 celery sticks, taken from heart of bunch of celery, cut into 4- to 6-inch lengths (see note) 2 to 3 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley Remove rind from cheese and whip with the butter in a medium-size bowl until light and creamy. Spoon mixture into a zipper-top bag with a hole cut in the tip; pipe cheese mixture into celery sticks. Dip one end into chopped parsley. Serve. Note: To prevent sticks from wiggling while piping cheese mixture into them, you can shave a flat surface on underside with paring knife