Chef Juliette
Smelt (Éperlans)
Tiny éperlans, lightly floured and fried until their tails stand crisp, arrive in a generous heap on a napkin with fried parsley and grooved lemon, a weeknight lesson in heat and restraint.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Anchovy Toast
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 317, Anchovy Toast, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Canapés aux anchois teach precision at a glance: crisp oval toasts, smooth beurre d'anchois, neat fillet lattices, and alternating rings of white and yolk that make formal geometry feel entirely alive.
Appetizers & Snacks
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
25 min
Active Time
20 min cook•45 min total
Yield8 canapés (4 servings)
Canapés aux anchois (anchovy toasts) teach the discipline of the cold hors-d'oeuvre: every layer must be thin, distinct, and immediately legible. Crisp bread carries a smooth beurre d'anchois (anchovy butter), dark fillets make their little lattice, and chopped egg white and yolk alternate around the rim. The one true thing is proportion. Too much of any part turns a composed first bite into a mouthful of salt and butter.
The original entry assumed a garde-manger with anchovy butter ready, a commis cutting identical ovals, and a salamander to toast them on command. Here it becomes eight canapés for four guests, with a paper template, a serrated knife, a fork, and a moderate oven. Those specialized tools and extra hands were brigade scaffolding and may go. The oval toast, beurre d'anchois, fillet lattice, and alternating egg border are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
When they are right, the bread snaps cleanly, the butter yields without greasiness, and the white, gold, and bronze garnish reads before the anchovy reaches your tongue. Toast the ovals until completely crisp, then cool them completely before spreading. That is the step that decides the dish.
Canapés aux anchois belong to the classical French hors-d'oeuvre table, particularly the formal dining rooms and bourgeois tables of Paris, rather than to a single provincial larder. Canapé is also the French word for a sofa, an apt name for a small garnish seated upon its fitted piece of bread. The alternating egg border comes from a tradition in which orderly cold garnishes displayed the cook's precision, but here the egg also softens the anchovy's salt and richness.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
firm pain de mie or white sandwich loaf
Quantity
8 slices, about 10 ounces (280 g) total
cut 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick
large eggs
Quantity
2
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g)
softened but still cool
oil-packed anchovy fillets
Quantity
24 fillets, about 1/2 cup (120 ml / 120 g) drained
blotted dry and divided, 8 for the butter and 16 for the lattices
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| firm pain de mie or white sandwich loafcut 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick | 8 slices, about 10 ounces (280 g) total |
| large eggs | 2 |
| unsalted buttersoftened but still cool | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 43 g) |
| oil-packed anchovy filletsblotted dry and divided, 8 for the butter and 16 for the lattices | 24 fillets, about 1/2 cup (120 ml / 120 g) drained |
Equipment Needed
- •Small saucepan with lid
- •Baking sheet and cooling rack
- •3 by 2 inch (7.5 by 5 cm) oval cutter, or paper template and small serrated knife
- •Mortar and pestle or fine-mesh sieve
- •Two small spoons for the egg garnish
Instructions
- 1
Cook and separate eggs
Set the eggs in a small saucepan and cover them with cold water by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Bring just to a boil, cover, remove from the heat, and leave for 10 minutes. Transfer them to cold water until completely cool, then peel. Separate the whites from the yolks and chop each very finely on its own board space, keeping the colours clean and distinct. Cover and set aside.
Dry the peeled eggs before cutting. Water makes the chopped white skid and turns the yolk into paste, while a dry egg gives the neat little crumbs this border needs. - 2
Cut and toast ovals
Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Cut a paper oval about 3 by 2 inches (7.5 by 5 cm), set it on each bread slice, and cut around it with a small serrated knife. Arrange the eight ovals on a baking sheet and toast for 8 to 12 minutes, turning once, until evenly pale gold and dry through the centre. Cool them completely on a rack. Test one at the narrow end: if it bends rather than breaking crisply, return the batch to the oven for 2 to 3 minutes. Ça se rattrape, but only before the butter goes on.
- 3
Make the beurre d'anchois
Mash 8 anchovy fillets to a perfectly smooth paste with a mortar and pestle, or rub them through a fine sieve using the back of a spoon. Beat the paste into the softened butter until the beurre d'anchois is even in colour, smooth, and spreadable. Do not melt the butter. If it becomes shiny or releases oil, chill it for 5 minutes and beat again until it holds softly on the spoon.
- 4
Prepare the anchovy lattice
Split each of the remaining 16 anchovy fillets lengthwise into two narrow strips. Trim the strips to fit within the ovals, leaving a narrow border for the egg. Keep them covered while you work so their surfaces remain supple rather than drying into stiff little ropes.
- 5
Spread and lattice
Spread each cooled toast with about 2 teaspoons of beurre d'anchois, carrying it in a thin, even layer to the edge. Lay two anchovy strips in one direction and two across them in the other, forming a small diamond lattice in the centre. Keep the pressure light so the fillets sit visibly on the butter instead of sinking into it.
- 6
Build the egg border
Using separate teaspoons, place a short arc of chopped white around the exposed rim, then an arc of yolk, continuing in alternating colours all the way around each oval. Press just enough to secure the egg to the beurre d'anchois. If the butter begins to shine and the colours slide together, chill the tray for 5 minutes, lift away the muddled egg with the point of a knife, and rebuild the border.
- 7
Settle and serve
Leave the finished canapés in a cool room for 10 minutes so the butter settles around the garnish without becoming hard. Arrange them on a platter and serve within 30 minutes, while the toast is crisp and the beurre d'anchois yields at the first bite. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose firm whole anchovy fillets packed in oil, not anchovy paste. The fillets on top must split cleanly and hold their lines. If using salt-packed anchovies, rinse them, remove any remaining bones, and dry them thoroughly before measuring.
- •Pain de mie has the close crumb this formal garnish needs. A bread riddled with large holes lets the beurre d'anchois escape and makes clean ovals nearly impossible, which is inconvenience dressed as rustic charm.
- •The butter should be pliable but never greasy. If your kitchen is warm, assemble four canapés at a time and keep the remaining beurre d'anchois cool.
- •Serve these with brut Champagne or a cold, dry Muscadet. Both meet the anchovy's salt and the butter's richness without adding sweetness.
Advance Preparation
- •Boil the eggs up to 1 day ahead and refrigerate them unpeeled. Separate and chop them shortly before assembly so the white stays moist and the yolk remains bright.
- •Make the beurre d'anchois up to 3 days ahead, cover it tightly, and refrigerate. Let it soften for 20 to 30 minutes before spreading, but do not let it melt.
- •Cut and toast the bread up to 6 hours ahead. Once completely cool, keep the ovals airtight at room temperature. If they soften, refresh them for 2 to 3 minutes in a 375°F (190°C) oven and cool again.
- •Assemble no more than 30 minutes before serving. Longer storage softens the toast, and refrigeration makes the butter waxy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 130g)
Calories
360 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
140 mg
Sodium
1480 mg
Total Carbohydrates
35 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
18 g
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