Calendar Year 2011 in photographs and stories

Top marks. The bread was great, the company was excellent, the wine all went the way of good wine, and the cheeses were lovely. Thank you everyone for a most enjoyable afternoon.

Brazil

• Paezinhos de Batata Doce (Brazilian sweet potato rolls)

  These rolls had a distinctive colour (from maize meal) and flavour presumably from the sweet potatoes.

Bulgarian

• Bulgarian bread rolls

  The boiling process gave these (table-tennis sized) bread rolls a nice chewy texture, quite similar to a bagel.

China

• Soya Bean Pate

  Pink and piquant pate.

England

• Nigella's everyday brown bread

  One third rye, one third wholemeal, one third strong white bread flour, this is the origin of "awesome toast".

• Peter's everyday omega bread

  With the extra seeds and spices this is a crunchy bread, decorative seeds added with water and flour paste, so still vegan.

• Sunflower Fruit Salad

  We were so well fed that this salad didn't make it out of the fridge before breakfast the following day.

• Carrot and Chick pea Salad

  This is a Saturday Guardian recipe, very nice, slightly sweet from the orange juice but needed more bite (lemon or lime juice, and a bit of chilli).

Ireland

• Soda Bread

  With 50-50 Wholemeal / white this bread had a soft and distinctly consistent texture compared to yeasted breads where the crumb has holes of varying sizes. Excellent crust as well.

Greece

• Pitta Bread Pockets

  Ever popular, best eaten on the day, as these were.

• Hummus

  We didn't need this one, it's still in the fridge.

• Aduki Bean Pate

  Sharp and dark, this pate was made with field mushrooms and aduki beans (black bean stocks were too low).

Germany

• Stollen

Israel

• Israeli Salad

  Fresh and light salad, very nice.

Italy

• Focaccia

  Trusty flat bread (using 10% wholemeal flour / 90% white flour).

Mexico

• Guacamole

Russia

• Black Bread

  Very dense dark bread, great flavour.

Sweden

• Knäckebröd

  Also known as a Swedish flatbread, more of a cracker than a bread by English standards. Good for cheese. Keeps well.