Erin Thick Chicken Soup - 75g

Packet soup has a firm place in the British cupboard, somewhere between the stock cubes and the tea bags. It is the dinner you make when there is no dinner, and Erin's thick chicken is one of the old reliables on shelves in Ireland and across the UK.

People in Canada go looking for it because they remember exactly how it tastes, and nothing else quite matches the memory of your own childhood bowl. One wet Tuesday in February and the craving arrives, uninvited and very specific.

It comes as a light 75g packet that sits flat in the cupboard and takes up next to no room, so it keeps for whenever the mood strikes. Make it up in a pan following the pack. Some people swear by it as a quick sauce for leftover chicken, which is either genius or cheating, depending on who you ask.

Erin makes a run of other packet soups, and most people pick up a few at once so the cupboard is never caught short. A crusty loaf and a box of proper British tea tend to end up in the same basket.