Put the sugar and 150ml water in a pan, bring to the boil, then reduce by half, but don’t let it caramelise – remove swiftly from the heat if this begins to happen.

Tip the fennel seeds and chilli into a mortar and gently crush using a pestle (or use a heavy saucepan and a rolling pin) to just crack the seeds and break down the chilli a little.

Add the fennel and chilli to the sugar along with the nuts and 1 1/2 tsp sea salt, stirring quickly to crystallise the sugar. Scrape the nuts out of the pan and on to a baking sheet lined with non-stick parchment. Leave to cool.