Mcvitie's Digestives Original - 225g

The digestive is the backbone of the British biscuit tin. Not the showy one, the dependable one: the biscuit people reach for at eleven, at four, and frankly whenever the kettle has boiled.

Ask anyone who has moved over from Britain what they go looking for first, and the answer usually comes back to a cup of tea and a digestive. It is the taste of sitting down at home for five minutes, and when people say digestive, a McVitie's is the one they mean.

This is the 225g packet, the everyday one. Keep it in a cool, dry cupboard and, once it is open, fold the end over or tip the lot into a tin so they stay crisp. They dunk, they crush down into a cheesecake base, and they sit very happily next to a wedge of Cheddar, a British habit worth keeping.

McVitie's makes plenty more for the tin, from chocolate digestives to Hobnobs and Jaffa Cakes, so have a look at what else of theirs is on the shelf. Most people add a box of proper British tea, because a digestive on its own is only doing half the job.