Heinz Beanz - 4 Cans

Beans hold a place in British eating that is hard to explain to anyone who did not grow up with them. They are breakfast, lunch and the emergency tea, and in Britain a cupboard without a tin of Heinz is a cupboard with a problem.

People in Canada search for them by name because the taste is a memory, and memory is fussy about labels. The sauce, the softness, the way it soaks into buttered toast: if you grew up on it, you know exactly which tin you are after.

Four cans sit quietly in the cupboard until they are needed. Heat them in a pan or the microwave, stir now and then, and pour over toast with the butter already melting underneath. Some people add grated cheese. Some add a fried egg. Nobody at this counter is judging.

Beans rarely travel alone. They tend to go home alongside a bottle of brown sauce, a jar of pickle, some crumpets or a bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, and suddenly the shopping looks like a proper British breakfast waiting to happen.