The canapés from 1800s cookbooks sure have some unusual ingredients, such as tongue, anchovy, sardine, and more. And of course, with no electricity and only wood burning stoves, it took a lot more work and skill to make them.

INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS:

CANAPÉS
These are slices of bread cut into fancy shapes, toasted or quickly fried in hot oil, or they may be spread with butter and browned in a quick oven. One slice only is used for each canapé. The mixture is spread on top, the top garnished, and the canapé used at once.

In many books they are called “uncovered sandwiches.” The cold canapés are placed always among the appetizers and served before the soup. They are made of such materials as caviar, sardines, anchovies, pickled oysters, pickled lobster, deviled shrimps, or a mixture of one or two of these materials.

A hot canapé, however, is served in the place of fish or as an entrée. If they are dressed with either fish or shell-fish they will take the place of that course. When made from chicken, sweetbreads or game, should be served as an entrée, following the fish.

ANCHOVY CANAPÉS
Cover a round or square of toast with anchovies that have been mashed and seasoned with a little tomato catsup. Put a little chopped celery around the edge as a garnish and send at once to table.

ANCHOVY CANAPÉS No. 2
Cream two tablespoons butter and add one-half teaspoon Anchovy paste. Spread thin slices of fresh toast with this. Over that, put slices of hard boiled or chopped egg and on top, one rolled anchovy.

CAVIAR CANAPÉS
Season the caviar with onion and a very little lemon juice. Spread over a round or square canapé, put chopped onion around the edge, and garnish the top with a hard-boiled egg. Place on paper mats and send at once to table. These are used as first course at lunch or dinner.

CHOPPED TONGUE CANAPÉS
Chop cold, cooked tongue very fine. Season it with two tablespoons of olive oil and a dusting of pepper. Spread it over the top of a round of toasted bread; garnish the edge with the small leaves of cress, put a little grated hard-boiled egg in the center and send at once to table.

SARDINE CANAPÉS
Remove the skin and pound the sardines to a paste. Put a thick layer of this paste over the top of a round of toasted bread. Cut one gherkin into very thin slices and arrange them overlapping around the edge. Put a little finely chopped hard-boiled egg in the center, and they are ready to serve.

FISH CANAPÉS
Pound one-fourth pound of cooked fish to a paste. Season it with a few drops of onion juice, a saltspoon of salt, and a dash of black pepper. Stir into it two tablespoons of sauce tartare. Spread this on six or eight rounds of buttered bread browned in the oven. Garnish the tops with grated cucumber and send to table. Canned salmon may be used in the place of fresh boiled fish.

DEVILED OYSTER CANAPÉS
Cut slices of bread into squares. Toast and remove the crusts. Remove the hard part from a pint of pickled oysters. Place oysters over bread, close together and in rotation, dust thickly with red pepper. Put over as a thin covering a highly seasoned sauce mayonnaise, and serve. Do not put over a second piece of bread.

LOBSTER CANAPÉS
1 three-pound lobster
The yolks of two eggs
2 level tablespoons of butter
2 level tablespoons of flour
1⁄2 pint of milk
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1 level teaspoon of salt
1 saltspoon of white pepper
1 pint of mashed potatoes
6 slices of bread

Toast the bread and spread with the potatoes. Rub the butter and flour together and add the milk. When boiling, add the seasoning and the lobster. When very hot, stir in carefully the well-beaten yolks of the eggs. Stir this until it is smoking hot, but be careful not to boil, or it will curdle. Fill this on top of the toast that has been garnished with potatoes, dust with chopped parsley and send to table. Shrimps may be substituted for lobster.

SWEETBREAD* CANAPÉS
1 pair calf’s sweetbreads
1⁄2 can of mushrooms
2 level tablespoons of butter
2 level tablespoons of flour
1⁄2 pint of milk
1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
1 saltspoon of pepper

Boil the sweetbreads carefully for three-quarters of an hour. Throw them into cold water; pick them apart, rejecting the membrane. Chop the mushrooms very fine and add them to the sweetbreads. Rub the butter and flour together, and add the milk. When boiling, add the salt, pepper, sweetbreads and mushrooms. Cover and stand over hot water ten to fifteen minutes. Serve them on slices of bread, garnished with mashed potatoes pressed through a star tube.

*Sweetbreads – an organ meat from the thymus gland or pancreas, usually from veal and lamb.

CANAPÉS à la TRINIDAD
Half the white meat from one boiled chicken
1 pair of sweetbreads
6 large fresh mushrooms
2 level tablespoons of butter
2 level tablespoons of flour
1⁄2 pint of milk
2 yolks of hard-boiled eggs
1 level teaspoon of salt
1 saltspoon of pepper

Cut twelve slices of bread and trim the crusts so the slices will be of even size. Cut out the centers from one-half the slices, leaving a wall of one inch. Toast the solid slices. Brush the untoasted edge of the bread with a little white of egg, lay on the rims and put them in the oven to toast on the upper side.

Pick the sweetbreads apart after they are carefully cooked, rejecting the membrane. Slice the mushrooms. Cut the chicken into dice. Put the butter into a saucepan, add the mushrooms, toss for a minute until the mushrooms are slightly softened, then add the flour, mix, then add the milk, salt and pepper.

Cover this on the back part of the stove for ten or fifteen minutes until the mushrooms are cooked; then add the meat. Stand this over hot water ten or fifteen minutes. The toast should now be done and crisp. Arrange each canapé on a square of lace paper on an individual heated dish, put the mixture in the center, garnish with the yolk of the eggs pressed through a sieve. Garnish the very top with a little chopped truffle or a little chopped parsley. These are the handsomest of all hot canapés, and while they are usually served following the soup at dinner, they may be used for the main course at a ladies’ luncheon, or at a supper.

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