Every area has its prominent families. In central Pennsylvania, the Weis family is of those families. Sigmund Weis and his brother founded Weis Supermarkets. The original store was located in Sunbury and the corporate headquarters are still there. There currently are Weis stores throughout the Mid-Atlantic states. The Weis family are major philanthropists in the region. At Susquehanna University, in nearby Selinsgrove, there is the Sigmund Weis School of Business. And, Bucknell University in Lewisburg has the Weis Center for the Performing Arts. According to a Bucknell webpage, “The Performing Arts Center was funded primarily through a 1982 bequest from the estate of Claire Weis, wife of the founder of the Weis Market chain.”
I recently was flipping through a 1924 cookbook from Sunbury, Pennsylvania called the Cook Book of the Susquehanna Valley Country Club, and was amazed to discover that Mrs. Sigmund Weis (Claire Weis) had a recipe for Star Canapes in the book. Stars are cut out of bread slices, the bread is buttered, and then a different ingredient is put on each tip of the star. One tip has capers, others chopped egg white from a hard-boiled egg, mashed egg yolk, chopped sweet pickle, and chopped pimento. A rolled anchovy was put in the center of the star.
The Star Canapes were fun (though tedious) to make, but looked beautiful. They were salty with a strong anchovy and capers taste, but were good.
This recipe definitely felt like a blast from the past. I can picture women a hundred years ago at the country club enjoying these canapes. Or maybe Claire Weis served them as hors d’oeuvres when she hosted guests at her home.
This recipe may have also showcased the wide range of products that were sold at the Weis Store – anchovies, capers, pimento, and so on.
Here’s the original recipe:
I tried toasting the bread before cutting the stars, but the tips broke off the stars when I cut them. It worked much better when I used untoasted bread. (It probably would work to toast the bread after cutting the stars, but I didn’t try that.)
I did not season the white of the hard-boiled egg with salt. The capers and anchovies were very salty, and it didn’t seem necessary.
I mashed the yolk of the hard-boiled egg rather than forcing it through a potato ricer.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Mrs. Sigmund Weis' Star Canapes
(When making this recipe count the number of anchovies in the can; that will determine how many Canape Stars this recipe will make.)
enough thinly sliced bread to cut approximately 9 stars (about 5 – 9 slices, depending upon size)
butter, softened
about 2 tablespoons capers
1 hard-boiled egg (finely chop egg white; mash egg yolk)
about 2 tablespoons finely chopped sweet pickles
1 2-ounce can chopped pimento (If not finely chopped, chop additionally.)
1 2-ounce can anchovies
Drain the capers, sweet pickles, pimento, and anchovies. Put each one (separately) on paper towels and gently squeeze to remove excess liquid. Set aside.
Cut stars from the bread using a star-shaped cutter. Butter the stars. Put capers on one point of the star. Put the chopped egg white on another point, then chopped sweet pickles on a third point, chopped pimento on the fourth, and mashed egg yolk on the last point. Roll the anchovies and then put one rolled anchovy in the center of each star.
Pretty! Methinks Mrs. Weis had a lot of leisure time on her hands…
I am thinking that what Mrs. Weis had was household help!
Yes!!!
I had similar thoughts.
She did indeed; the 1930, 1940, and 1950 census records all show 2 live-in servants in the home of Sigmund and Claire (who did not work outside the home).
I agree. 🙂 It’s fascinating all the different ways people approach filling time.
They do look tedious to make. I am very familiar with Weis’s as I grew up in the area and I’m back every summer. The Weis family has a compound in the village I summer in.
As you know, I also grew up in the area. I always find it fun when one of the recipes lends itself to making a Pennsylvania connection. I was excited when I found a 1924 cookbook from the country club in Sunbury on Ebay.
How does one eat it? It seems like the bits would fall off if you used it as a finger food. Did one use those dainty little forks for appetizers that could not be held easily?
That’s a very good question. White bread is so softy. I imagine the bread would fall apart when the canape was picked up. Your insight into the use of a little fork makes a lot of sense.
I bought a package of thin-sliced white bread when I made this recipe. The thin-sliced bread is less airy than some other types. I didn’t have any trouble with the bread falling apart. (That said, the original recipe said the canapes could be made using either toasted or untoasted bread. I tried using toasted bread but the points of the star fell off when used a star cutter to cut the shape. The untoasted bread worked much better. It might work to toast the stars after they are cut. I didn’t try that.)
I think if the bread were toasted, it would make it easier to eat, but I confess the combination of ingredients does not sound appealing to me.
It is an unusual combination of ingredients! I wonder if the combination would have been considered less strange a hundred years ago.
I’m not sure how you are supposed to eat it, but I just held it fairly flat in my hand when I ate it. The bread is spread with butter before putting the other toppings on, and to some extend that helped keep things in place.
Maybe they were salty as a way to get people to keep drinking cocktails.
hmm. . . 1924 was in the middle of prohibition. But now that I think about it, they may very well have had cocktails. I don’t think that prohibition did much to slow down alcohol consumption.
heh, the mansion I work in here in Harrisburg supposedly had a speakeasy in its basement.
They had fun during the 1920’s.
Lovely combination of flavors!
It’s a somewhat unusual combination of flavors today. I wonder if it would have been considered a more common combination in 1924.
I wonder, too. I like the saltiness of this combo, though!
It does have a nice saltiness.
While elegant to look at, it seems they would be hard to eat. I am sure if I picked one up, the toppings would fall off when I took a bite. Though, if small enough, maybe you could pop the whole thing into your mouth?
I buttered the bread before putting the toppings on which helped keep them in place a little. My cookie cutter made stars that were about 2 3/4 inches from tip to tip. At first I tried nibbling one point off at a time, but then realized that a mixture of ingredients made a really nice texture and flavor, so I ate the stars in about two bites.
capers boiled egg anchovies? count me in!
They are a fun hors d’oeuvre.