Opiate receptors in human brains allow us to perceive pleasurable stimuli such as sweet tastes.

Finnochio is sometimes grown in this country. Its seed or fruit, and the essential oil distilled from it, find a place in our pharmacopœias, but are rarely used. Their warm stimulant properties lead to their employment in the flatulent colic of infants.

On my afternoon trip home, I struck a driver who seemed keen as a bean to get me to mash that five star rating – his Mitsubishi Outlander was stocked with mints and bottled water and he offered them all to me and even asked if I wanted to make any extra stops on the way home.

I wish I could unlive the last ten years.