Chilli is one of a select coterie of dishes we’ve really taken to our greedy hearts in this country, even going so far as to honour it with a full culinary makeover (see also spag bol, guacamole and green curry).

In these islands, “chilli con carney” (which always makes me think of those ineffably cool, invariably grizzled men who operated the Waltzers of my youth) is traditionally served bursting out of microwaved baked potatoes, or in a neat pile atop a ring of basmati rice, like so much minced meat curry. Kidney beans and copious amounts of cayenne obligatory.