Colman's Cheese Sauce Mix - 35g

Colman's is the mustard name in Britain, the yellow tin in nearly every kitchen, but the sauce sachets have their own place in the cupboard. The cheese one is the quiet workhorse: cauliflower cheese with the roast, leeks on a cold night, macaroni cheese on a Tuesday when nobody can face anything clever.

You can make a cheese sauce from scratch, of course. The trouble is that the one you are trying to match tastes of this packet, because this packet is what your mum used. Searching for it is less about convenience and more about getting the flavour exactly right.

It comes as a single 35g sachet, flat and light, and it sits in the cupboard taking up no room at all until a dish of vegetables needs rescuing. Follow the packet, pour it over broccoli, cauliflower or a pan of pasta, and finish it under the grill if you like a crust.

Most people who buy one buy a few, and a jar of Colman's English Mustard tends to end up in the same basket. A spoonful of it in the cheese sauce is an old trick worth stealing.