When is a canapé no longer a canapé? Matt Brady looks at the growing size of party food.
We recently had a delivery to the office of ‘canapies’ from Square Pie. As the somewhat cringe-inducing name suggests, they're pies created to be party snacks. But although they were very tasty, they’re a little on the large side to actually enjoy as canapés.
This raised a question. How much can you expect party guests to hold at one time, bearing in mind that one hand is most likely already occupied by a glass? Have canapés been getting progressively larger to the point that they’re just not canapés anymore?
The perfect size
What is the ideal size of a party canapé? It needs to be a satisfying bite, but not cause real difficulty while eating or hold onto it.
For example, at a recent event I was served a whole bowlful of food to eat standing up. It was tasty and filled me up, but it wasn’t exactly the most easy thing to eat. I had a bowl in one hand, spoon in the other, and nowhere convenient to put my drink down. I settled for placing the glass on the floor between my legs and a sofa, hoping it didn’t get kicked over.
However, in the past I’ve also endured hunger pangs because of tiny snacks that taste good but don’t really have any substance. And at a Christmas party, where the booze is likely to be flowing fairly freely, I think it’s fairly important to make sure everyone has had a sufficient amount to eat.
What snacks fill the ideal ‘middle ground’ of being substantial enough to sate peckish partygoers, but small enough that you can just pop it in your mouth all at once?
And of those, which are actually exciting? In 2014, it seems unlikely that we’d settle for cheese and pineapple on a cocktail stick. Everyone wants to impress their guests at least a little bit. But at the same time, no one wants to spend hours in their kitchen before a party preparing a hundred identical titbits – or spend too much money on fancy ingredients that disappear in a moment.
How big should a canapé be? Which snacks fill that magical ‘middle ground’ of party food? What are your favourites? Let us know in the Comments below.
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