Celery — it’s a quintessential component of Britain’s favourite hangover cure but its popularity is the result of what was indubitably one of the 18th century’s least arduous incarcerations.

When French commander Marshal Tallard was defeated at the battle of Blenheim in 1704, he was brought back to England as a prisoner.

But far from being strung up in chains in a dank dungeon, Tallard was permitted to rent a rather swish residence near Nottingham where he employed his own French chef and had the freedom to roam the city, with locals taking an enormous interest in the charismatic Duke.

His welcome was even warmer amongst British aristocracy who would invite him to their country piles and take him out on lavish hunting parties.

Still, the Duke must have gotten a little homesick at times as he felt compelled to write a book to teach locals how to cook and bake in the French style — a somewhat backhanded compliment to English cuisine — and also to landscape his own à la mode terraced garden at his home at Newdigate House.

And a common feature of his flowerbeds and cookbook was Celery; this was a marshland weed that no right-minded English gent would have dreamt of eating at the time.

But across the Channel, Celery was considered a kitchen delicacy and had been a cure for sore heads and a lack of libido since ancient times.

So when Tallard spotted wild celery growing whilst out riding along the Nottinghamshire lanes and ditches he immediately cultivated it himself.

And when the captured Duke was eventually allowed to return back to France some years later — departing with almost celebrity fanfare — his lasting legacy to his captor’s nation was a burgeoning taste for celery, along with more than a few broken-hearted Nottinghamshire ladies.

This equally handsome looking Broken Clock Vodka Bloody Mary comes from The Chesterfield Mayfair and it’s fittingly served with a celery stick and spiked with celery salt for good measure.

And it’s paired with a dashing dish of spicy country garden samosas, filled with beetroot, potato and peas.