Chilled cucumber and lovage soup

Chilled cucumber soups are the most refreshing thing on a hot summer’s day. What’s more, this recipe is so simple that it’s a real godsend on scorching days when the idea of cooking seems inconceivable. My mum often used to make cold cucumber soup and this recipe is a slight variation on hers – she would use dill, not lovage. The lovage came about as, when I worked at Rochelle Canteen, we had a very enthusiastic lovage plant and so finding ways to use it was always a happy challenge. This soup was my favourite result. Lovage can be a bully with its punchy flavour, so some caution is required.

Alternative suggestions: as mentioned above, dill is also excellent in this soup, especially if lovage is hard to come by. The addition of some chopped, hard boiled eggs as a garnish can also be welcome.