Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Devilish, perhaps, but not deviled

What do you see in this picture from Elizabeth Price's Hors d'Oeuvres & Appetizers (1978)?


If you're like me, you see some seriously weird-looking deviled eggs in front of a bowl full of melted orange juice concentrate. What made the egg whites so orange? Were they aged for a few years before deviling? And are they stuffed with Fancy Feast? How does the wading pool of orange goo come into play?

Maybe you noticed that the egg whites are a little oddly-shaped. That's because these are actually



Stuffed apricots! My guess of Fancy Feast as the stuffing is closer than one might hope it would be. The apricots are full of (totally appropriate sounding) cream cheese mixed with (scary!) anchovy flavoring. (I didn't even know there was such a thing. I have never seen anchovy flavoring next to the vanilla and almond extract. That's probably good, because there is NO WAY you want to mix those up.) The filling is supposed to have pink food coloring too, though the picture looks more brownish than pink. My guess is its main purpose is to warn guests that the filling is not plain cream cheese. I think I'd dye it bright blue instead.


Like a poison dart frog, it could warn hungry diners "You DON'T want to eat me! Just keep on moving, and nobody will get hurt."

As for the wading pool of orange goo hovering in the background, your guess is as good as mine.

2 comments:

  1. I thought this "appetizer" looked familiar! Check it out http://badjellyblog.com/2013/04/29/anchovy-cream-stuffed-apricots/
    I guess we'll never know what the mystery goo is made of

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    Replies
    1. Wow! They definitely are braver than I am! The experiment went about as well as one might expect.

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