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Sardine Canapes

A savory spread of sardine paste on toasted bread, topped with sardine strips.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Sardine Canapes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the paste

  1. Remove the bones from the sardines and set half aside.

  2. Pound the other half of the sardines to a smooth paste with the egg yolks and butter.

  3. Mix in the mustard, pepper, and vinegar until well combined.

Prepare the toast

  1. Cut slices from a roll into oval or octagon shapes.

  2. Toast or fry the slices in oil or butter until golden.

Assemble and bake

  1. Spread the sardine paste over the toasted slices.

  2. Top the slices with the reserved sardine strips.

  3. Place the assembled canapés in the oven until very hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sardines
Provide the main savoury flavour and the richly textured paste.
Egg yolks
Add richness and body, helping the paste hold together smoothly.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture and mouthfeel.
Vinegar
Adds a touch of acidity that sharpens the flavour of the paste.

The step that matters

Pounding the paste smooth. Pounding the sardines, yolks and butter together until fully smooth emulsifies the fat and breaks down the fish, so the spread is even rather than lumpy or greasy.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, pepper, vinegar):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardthe original
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Cucumberfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, pepper, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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