Canapé the word and its meaning discovered!

Canapé is a specific word that describes an item of finger food that is usually associated with cocktail style events, parties or functions.

Did you know that canapé is the french word for couch! which draws on the analogy that the garnish sits atop the bread as people do a couch.

The toppings are laid as a “canopy” over the base.

Because they are often served during cocktail hours, it is often desired that a canapé be either salty or spicy, in order to encourage guests to drink more. 

The technical and traditional interpretation of a canapé consists of a base of bread , a spread, a main item, and a garnish. The base is usually cut into a shape i.e. cycle, square or triangle and is baked or fried. The spread is traditionally either a compound butter or a flavored cream cheese. The main items and garnish are sliced meats, fish and or vegetables. Or processed versions of the ingredients often piped onto their bases.

A more modern approach is creating miniature meals drawing inspiration from around the globe and combining delicious combinations of ingredients. At canapé company we love asian style foods and fill wonton baskets, nori cones and rice papers with an array of delicious salads and curries. Similarly we love the cheeses and produce of the mediterranean and top rosti, tart cases and pastries as well as various fritters with these gorgeous ingredients. 

We are also very mindful of the growing numbers of guests requiring gluten free options that we come accross at functions we cater, so we are substituting a lot more rice, corn, potato and chick pea flours in our canapé base recipes. Other common diets including Atkins and Paleo require restricted carbohydrate so we are also disposing of the bread bases to our canapés using skewers and spoons to present and hold our canapés at parties we cater.

These fantastic little morsels and carefully thought out and designed.  As a caterer they must be robust as well as beautiful and delicious. We spend hours at canapé company perfecting our new canapés so that they score 10’s in all of the above critia. New and not yet on our catering menus are these fantastic salmon and creme fraiche canapés.