If it works, it will be the first time that anyone has proven that taste can be altered simply by looking at an image.

Charles Spence, professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University who has helped Heston Blumethal create his culinary masterpieces, said: “It may take two to three seconds but we think people might start to notice a different taste in their mouth, based on the image they are looking at.

“We found that people tend to see one of the images more dominantly to begin with, but then there is the ‘aha’ moment where they suddenly see the other, and the brain starts to flip back and forth between the two, and it is that we are interested in.

“Rabbit is also something we should be eating more of, so if we can convince people to have a conversation about the taste, and give it a try to see if they like it, then it might alter their idea of it being an acceptable meat.

“Currently in Britain rabbits are viewed as pets whereas in Spain they are seen as everyday ingredients, so maybe we could change the perception in the UK because rabbit is a readily available source of protein which we should be using more.”