In On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963), James Bond consumes mounds of Weisswurst, washed down with four steins of beer, at the Franziskaner Keller in Munich in the company of a taxi-driver who has driven Bond around the city as he searches for a wedding ring. The meal is both a celebration of a successful purchase and an impromptu bachelor party on the eve of James’s wedding.

Last summer, I happened to be in Geneva, and discovered that, in an area of food stalls at one end of the Pont du Mont Blanc (itself a Bondian literary location), Weisswurst was on the menu. I was reminded of Bond’s meal, and naturally ordered some, along with a glass of beer.

Weisswurst is a traditional Bavarian sausage. It is, of course, white, and is made from minced veal and bacon and flavoured with herbs and spices.

I couldn’t manage the quantities that Bond has (not least because Geneva is a very expensive city), but I nevertheless felt that I had got a taste of Bond’s stag party.