Angels on horseback
Oysters wrapped in bacon, served as a savoury or canapé.
Angels on horseback are a hot appetizer featuring oysters wrapped in bacon. They are typically baked after rolling shucked oysters in bacon. Served on bread, they become a canapé. Unlike the fruit-based devils on horseback, this dish is savory, though the names are sometimes confused.
Quick Facts
- Course
- Canapé, hors d'œuvre or savoury
- Served
- Hot
- Main ingredients
- Oysters, bacon
- Calories
- 677.8 J (162 cal)
Facts from the source article.
Classification
Angels on horseback appear on menus as an hors d’oeuvre, a canapé (when paired with bread), or a savoury. In England, savouries are salty dishes served after dessert to refresh the palate before digestifs. This dish is distinct from devils on horseback, which wrap fruit like prunes or dates. Chefs and food writers such as Martha Stewart and Martin Blunos uphold this difference, though the names have often been swapped. That confusion traces back to a Chicago Tribune article and James Beard, who argued that angels on horseback must use ham, while bacon wrappers make them devils on horseback.
History
The dish's origins are unclear, with the name likely deriving from the French anges à cheval. The Oxford English Dictionary and other sources give its first occurrence as 1888 in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, though an Australian newspaper reference with a brief recipe dates to 1882. In the 1930s it was suggested for a picnic menu, and in 1948 again as an appetizer. During the 1950s, newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times featured it. The dish achieved a certain popularity in 1960s Washington, D.C., served by Evangeline Bruce during the Kennedy administration, though the name was not commonplace. As late as the 1980s, the Chicago Tribune called it intriguing. Publications from the 1990s onward discuss it as an indulgence or delicacy, with one source noting that the luxury of oysters has led to cocktail sausages replacing them.
More in American Pork Dishes
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced