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Canapés

11/4/2019

5 Comments

 
Picture
Nibbles to be passed around to guests at an Art Gallery opening  - tiny bocconcini sandwiched between cherry tomatoes, "drizzled" with basil oil.
Nice, but these are not canapés.
What do we call small, light morsels of food passed around to standing guests or to friends not yet seated, to entertain them possibly, while waiting for others to arrive?

Pre-dinner nibbles, appetisers, pre-prandial snacks, hors d'oeuvres, amuse-gueules, amuse-bouches, canapés?

In French, un canapé is a couch or a sofa, so a canapé acts as a little "couch" for a morsel of tasty food on which to nestle.  It could be a round of rye bread topped with smoked salmon & sour cream, it could be a sliver of pineapple topped with spiced pork, it could even be a humble Jatz cracker with cheddar and a pickle.

We were always trying to find different "canapés" to build on - a round of cucumber, a small square of crisped polenta, a finger of toast, a blini, a ball of pressed rice - all to inspire us to match a topping.
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So baby bocconcini and cherry tomatoes are nice, but they're not canapés. Canapés are pre-prandial snacks/appetisers but not all pre-prandial snacks are canapés.
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5 Comments
ROSA MATTO
11/4/2019 04:28:29 pm

Thank you for making this important distinction. Now, please address buffet and smorgasbord and I'll die a happy woman. You are doing important work here, Catherine.

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Cath Kerry link
12/4/2019 01:15:22 pm

Yes, it's a burden I carry but someone has to do it. (I'm thinking about the buffet/smorgasbord conundrum.)

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ROSA MATTO
13/4/2019 08:50:03 am

You're a good woman, Catherine.

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Jessica Knight
13/7/2019 06:28:47 pm

My pet aversion: Having said "no thank you", to the guest, who asks if she can bring anything to the drinks/ evening, arrives with a plate of raw veg and a dip purchased from the local supermarket! I have organised exactly what I wish to serve and the table is arranged accordingly. I try to be polite, but usually through gritted teeth.
Jessica

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Cath link
22/7/2019 02:36:09 pm

Yes, the passive aggressive party bringer. If you couldn't handle it, you wouldn't have invited them. Just make sure as things are passed around that you say "By the way, Stella brought these."

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