Throughout my time at university I saw many attempts at “cooking” (I use this word very loosely in some cases).

Apparently man can live on bread alone (in particular the toasted variety), as one of my friends proved. And it never failed to amaze me the concoctions a hungry student (myself included) will come up with, from Marmite spaghetti to one of my personal favourites, peas à la reggae sauce.

The need for a “proper meal” to balance out these less than adequate substitutes was required from time to time and the baked potato became a firm favourite of mine, not least because I was safe in the knowledge that mother bear would approve.

But with a good hour of cooking time and the cost of the oven being on for so long, this was less than ideal. In a student house where you had to be able to see your own breath before you could consider switching on the heating, using the oven for that length of time was never going to be popular (although the heat was welcome).

Those familiar with a student kitchen will know it’s every man for himself. When tea time approaches there are value sauces taking up every hob in sight, mountains of pasta and large volumes of tea with “it smells alright” milk flowing in every direction, the best approach is to “get in and get out”, making sure you have something quick to make. If it dragged on for too long, I already knew who could write my paper for me while I was busy with my own affairs, because being a student means being able to find a way out of any situation.

This is why Bannisters’ Farm became my student staple.I could get my hearty jacket potato fix from the microwave in minutes, leaving enough time for the value beans to be heated up. Quick, convenient and nutritious.

Charlotte (a student until last July, now living in the real world)