I LOVE a devilled egg. Yes, I do. So imagine my delight when I find new recipes for said oeufs of this oeuvre (ouch!).

On the general egg theme that'll be running through the next few weeks, herewith a recipe taken from Gulf District Women?s Club of Tehran Cookbook of 1960! The provenance is fantastic ? as is the flavour! Rock it retro-stylee at your next drinks do!

Canap? Eggs by Margaret Stuart

A lot of hard boiled eggs, say 12

1 lb / 450g (net weight) stoned black olives

4 oz / 110g tuna

2-4 oz / 55-110g capers, according to taste

dry mustard

olive oil

4 oz / 110g fillets of anchovy

salt, pepper, mixed spice and brandy

Mash the olives into a pulp with fork. Chop the anchovies, tuna, and capers finely and add to olives; add 1 tsp dry mustard and mix thoroughly. Sieve and add 2 tbs olive oil, spice, pepper, and a wineglass of brandy. Cut eggs in two, removing the yolks. Mash yolks well, removing all lumps and add to first mixture. Stuff the whites with the yolk mixture. A pastry tube may be used effectively.

The texture is important; if too sloppy, although the flavour has not changed, the mixture is unappetizing in appearance. May be kept in a jar in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.

This recipe came from the Legation Quarter of Peking from a Chinese butler who had in turn learned it from his brother, who had been a chef to a Russian officers' mess during the siege of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War.