MORE PLEASE - CAMP AS CANAPÉS

Arancini, Cucumber Cups, Mini Reubens and Croissantini

We are firmly in the throes of canapé season ladies and gents and BOY am I glad about it. Don’t you just love eating miniature things whilst sipping cold beverages? It simultaneously feels sophisticated and somehow naughty at the same time. Anyway, last week I launched the Dirty Dishes chat - a little helpline for subscribers to share tips, tricks and also questions about dinner parties, recipes and hosting. Canapés were one of the things that came up and so I thought they deserved their very own episode.

My first culinary job was as a chef for a really excellent caterer, Victoria Blashford Snell, in the South West where I grew up. Victoria was always up for hiring teenagers with a good attitude even if they lacked experience and I was thrilled to have a chance. I had never seen food so beautiful. We would fill platters and platters with mini egg benedicts, wonton cups filled with spicy crab, spoons of beef tartare and tiny wee sandwiches. I loved the idea that each canapé was one perfect bite - a delightful explosion of flavour. I think a good 10% of any given thing that I was prepping ended up in my mouth. What Victoria taught me was that canapés can and should be fun, such is the nature of miniature eating. She also taught me that prep and organisation is key if you want to have a swift and slick canapé service, especially given the fiddly nature of tiny things.

For large scale events it is important that canapés are one mouthful (that’s actually the defining feature of a canapé as opposed to an hors d’oeuvres) but when you’re at home with a lot less people I think it’s ok to have bigger snacks that may require a napkin, especially if you are trying to prevent people from getting too hammered. I like a mix of bigger, more filling items and tiny morsels that are elegant and chic, so that’s what we have today.

CANAPÉ PLANNING 101

These are my top tips when trying to plan a canapé party, I am also linking below a selection of dishes from previous episodes that would be great options this party season.