my $hoh = { apples => { source => 'uk', colour => 'red', }, pears => { source => 'uk', colour => 'green', }, bananas => { source => 'uk', colour => 'yellow', }, }; # naff: get source, using var in a list assignment my ( $any ) = values %$hoh; print "source: ", $any->{source}, "\n"; # naff: create an anonymouse array and access element[0] print "source: ", ${[values %$hoh]}[0]{source}, "\n";