Canapes or kanapki are often set on a serving tray with no other garnish. They are served at afternoon tea, before dinner, and during parties.

The bread foundations for canapes usually are white bread, fresh or toasted, and rye breads of many shades, plain or with caraway seed. Often crusts are trimmed off and the resulting squares are cut into triangles or smaller squares. Sometimes a cookie cutter is used to cut out rounds or other shapes from the bread slices. Occasionally French bread is used for canape bases.

Plain, sweet, unsalted butter is a favored spread for marrying base to topping. Flavored butter is a pleasing variation. Just a light film of butter, spread all the way to the edges, is adequate. It helps keep the bread fresh and attractive. Mayonnaise, cheese, and sour cream also may be used.

Vegetables

Small, whole vegetables, boiled in herb-flavored chicken broth or pickled, make attractive toppings for canapes. Glaze with a light, chicken or herb-flavored gelatin, if desired.

Use tiny whole carrots or slices of carrots; Brussels sprouts; whole or sliced mushrooms; onion, beets; asparagus tips; artichoke hearts; whole or sliced cauliflower florettes. Slices of fresh, raw tomato or halved tomatoes can be used also.

Fish

Flaked, cooked fish or tiny fillets of cooked fish make excellent toppings for canapes. Garnish with capers or prepared beet horseradish. Use a savory butter spread on French bread.

Anchovy fillets, either flat or rolled with capers, are excellent as garnish or topping.

Caviar, red as well as black, is tasty with a garnish of sieved hard-cooked egg. Just a dot of caviar on top of slices of salmon or chicken makes an elegant canape.

Pickled herring, herring in cream, and all the endless varieties of herring beloved by the Poles are excellent canape toppings. Pickles and onions complement herring.

Eggs

Hard-cooked eggs, sliced, sieved, halved, or quartered, make colorful garnish or toppings for canapes. Use patience and a sense of design.

Exercise creative skills in separating yolks from whites. Make borders, spoke designs (using chopped parsley or dill), or fill the inside of a cucumber or tomato slice with its seeds removed.

Use meat, poultry, or fruits to increase the colorfulness and variety of a canape tray.

Various other cold hors d’oeuvres, or zimme zakaski, are popular at Polish gatherings. Relishes, pickles, olives, bite-size pieces of sausage on skewers, spices, oysters, cold tongue, shrimp, and steak tartare are all delightful possibilities.

Hot hors d’oeuvres, or gorace zakaski, are easiest to make by choosing compatible combinations in canapes which can be quickly broiled or heated in the oven.