In her foreword to a new edition of the late Michael Smith's book Fine English Cookery, the food writer Geraldine Holt singles out for praise Smith's recipe for English Cucumber Soup, "a beautiful, subtly-flavoured dish rarely encountered today, on the page or the table". But what Geraldine Holt particularly admires is that "using easily available home-grown ingredients, the recipe can be followed by even the shakiest novice because Michael never forgets his reader in the kitchen: he points out possible pitfalls here, alerts the cook to exactly the right colour or consistency there and, most helpfully of all, offers guidance on how to correct any mistakes along the way".
Indeed he does, and the recipe is a model of crisp enlightenment, as well as being delicious.
English Cucumber Soup (hot or chilled)
2 large cucumbers 125g (4oz) chopped onion 60g (2oz) butter 30g (1oz) plain flour 1 teaspoon castor sugar 1 litre (2 pints) chicken stock Juice and zest of half a lemon 400ml (3/4 pint) single cream 1 dessertspoon chopped mint (peppermint for preference) Salt and freshly ground white pepper
Peel and de-seed the cucumber and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Grate just the yellow part (zest) of the half lemon and squeeze the juice into a cup.
Melt the butter slowly in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the onion and soften it without colouring. Add the cucumber pieces, cover the pan with a lid and sweat the two vegetables together until the cucumber is tender but not over-cooked.
Sprinkle the flour over the contents of the pan and stir in well; allow the steam to escape before doing this to avoid lumping. Add the stock and cook slowly for 15 minutes.
Pass through a blender until a creamy consistency is obtained. Add the lemon juice and rind and season lightly with the salt, pepper and sugar. Add the cream and bring the soup to boiling point, but do not let it boil as this will discolour it and a scum will form.
Add the freshly chopped mint just before serving.
If the soup looks rather "beige" due to possible over-cooking, add a little parsley juice made by chopping the parsley when wet and then squeezing the liquid out through the corner of a clean tea towel. Fine English Cookery by Michael Smith is published by Serif Books, price £12.99 in the UK