‘Ooh canapés, how posh!’ it’s a line from Abigail’s Party and if it isn’t it really should be. How many times have those of us of a certain age been offered canapés, normally not nearly enough of them, and what’s more impossible to eat without redecorating the carpet?

Canapes my mother always called them, steadfastly refusing to honour the acute accent and silent’s’. From the pineapple chunk on a cocktail stick, to the life threatening vol au vent, canapés were the 70’s on a plate.

Maybe it’s time to think again, after all there’s nothing wrong in theory in lots of pretty nibbles, and the splendidly named Victoria Blashford Snell, along with co-author Eric Treuille may be the people to lead a revival.

They first wrote this book in 1998 but since then tastes and trends have changed and more options are on the menu. Even so V B-S sticks to her avowed policy of keeping the canapés easy enough to make and eat while still looking good and delivering a bit of a’wow’.

The opening chapter on Planning a Party is full of good sense, my own plans normally involve little more than buying 20 tubs of Pringles and a box of plastic glasses, but V B-S is as thorough as a general planning an assault. Who is coming? How much space? Do the maths. All sound advice for sure.

Her menu planners seem sensible and include a veggie option and then the book is divided into sections including nibbles, sticks and skewers, dips, crostini, quesadillas, fritters and wraps. Over 200 recipes in all from around the world and around Slough

They all look lovely and would go down a storm in my’lounge’. The step by step instructions, the plan ahead tips and pictures to show how things should turn out are all clear and helpful as you’d expect from a Dorling-Kindersley book.

Yes I think I will have a canapé party; young people will come and explain what a slider is to me and I will nibble pensively on a mini Peking Duck Pancake and pretend to care. These little nibbles could be the start of something big.

Publication Date: 1 Oct 2012