If I could be served an entire meal in canapé form, I would be happy.

Here is a selection of some of the recent ones I’ve enjoyed with a martini.

These are one of my staple favourites: rice crackers topped with a red onion and taramasalata mix.

This was a delicious pastry amuse-bouche filled with melted gruyère cheese and dusted with locally foraged and home-dried wild garlic powder served at Ar Bòrd restaurant on the Isle of Mull.

These are slices of smoked duck, topped with pickled beetroot and truffle Dorrigo Pepper mayonnaise on a senbei cracker.

My extremely talented and creative neighbour put them together for a civilised Sunday evening.

Senbei are a type of rice cracker from Japan. They make an easy and delicious canapé base.

The smoked duck is pretty versatile as well. Here it is again on another senbei cracker, topped with diced cucumber, sliced spring onion and a drizzle of hoi sin sauce.

These exquisite nibbles are wasabi-flavoured rice crackers topped with avocado and grilled octopus. Absolutely delicious as well as visually stunning.

My neighbour also prepared me this wonderful dish of bites one night before we watched a Wes Anderson film together. It’s senbei with avocado, egg, chive and anchovy, plus pickled asparagus wrapped in prosciutto.

The film we watched was the Phoenician Scheme by the way, which itself features at least one martini in the “magnificent nightclub” that is Marseille Bob’s, almost certainly inspired by Rick’s Bar in Casablanca (that one gin joint in all the towns in all the world).

The avocado and senbei combination had the delicious addition of an Australian spread called Promite, which is a slightly sweeter version of Marmite or Vegemite. It went beautifully with the avocado flavour, while the texture combo was devilishly moreish.

This is my neighbour and I again, enjoying a simple but perfect combination of olives, crisps and nuts with flask martinis on a train back to London. We had just spent the day in Hastings (to see the Agatha Christie exhibition at the local museum no less).

This is the most civilised way to travel by train. If Agatha had drunk alcohol she might have approved – some of her characters certainly would’ve.

If the idea of a train martini catches your attention, please see the Eurostar Martini for more details.

Back at my neighbour’s flat, this is a crab mayo, spring onion, cucumber and paprika mixture on a sliver of nori seaweed on another senbei cracker.

And here is something more simple but still luxurious: Italian bresaola. I think it goes beautifully with a martini. It’s fleshy yet delicate and feels both sophisticated and distinctly caveman to eat.

And finally, here are some very simple cucumber rounds with miso paste.

This easy-to-prepare Japanese snack is vegan, healthy and tasty. Note that it also pairs well with beer – oishii!

Enjoy your snacks!