Thorntons Continental - 264g

Thorntons is one of those names every British high street seemed to have, and Continental is one of its best-known boxes. It is the one people bring when they want to look like they made an effort without saying so.

In Canada, people tend to come looking for it after a memory: the box on a grandparent's sideboard, the one opened after Sunday lunch, the one your mum said was for visitors and then ate with you anyway. You want that box, not something near enough.

It comes as a 264g box of assorted chocolates, which is enough to go round a table a couple of times before the negotiating starts. Keep it somewhere cool and dry, out of the sun, and put the lid back on between rounds. Whether the lid actually goes back on is between you and your household.

Thorntons made its name on toffee and fudge long before the boxed chocolates, so if those ring a bell too, you are in good company. Most people pair a box of Continental with a card, a pot of tea and somebody they have not seen in a while.