These bacon-wrapped scallops, from Trader Joe’s, were surprisingly good. I don’t usually buy appetizer-ish things like this, if I need a little something before I can get dinner ready, cheese or hummus on toasted bread crisps or pita chips does the trick.
But I gave this indulgence a try, and what with the nitrite free bacon and decent scallops, they were delicious, with just a touch of sweetness from the caramelized juices.
Then I wondered to myself, “Are these what are called Devils on Horseback?” I can never remember what those are. At The Culinary Chase, a nice Canadian blog, I learned that those are from the Victorian era, and consist of dried fruit wrapped in bacon – a prune, an almond stuffed date, it can vary. This relic was revived during the 1970s, but has fallen out of favor now – too bad, sounds delicious! And at Wikipedia, I learn that the Devil version arose out of Angels on Horseback, which involved oysters wrapped in bacon.
These are all hors d’oœuvres, not canapés, by the way, because, I also learned, a canapé traditionally means something wrapped in bread or served on toast, like pigs in a blanket. And I just remembered something else. Don’t some of these occasionally involve a slice of water chestnut too? Or is that the one with chicken livers? You could even do some kind of make-your-own party built around this concept…Uh-ho, now I’m hungry!
