Cucumbers and cricket.

New year here means test cricket. While the men of the house spent Monday at the SCG watching India and Australia stoush it out, I dealt with the really serious business of  summer. The vege garden and what to do with all it produces.

This week cucumbers are my nemesis. These sneaky little critters hide among the raspy leaves and before you know it you have ten cucumbers sitting on the bench waiting to be used.

Samuel Johnson is supposed to have said that 'a cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing.'  Undeterred by this scurrilous maligning of the cucumber I went in search of something cooling and soothing for the hottest day of the year and came up with Chilled cucumber and borage soup from Signe Johansen's book Scandilicious.

Taking about 15 minutes to make, followed by a really solid chill in the fridge, this soup is perfect for a summer day. Not only did it use produce from the garden, frozen stock from the freezer and my own addition of a handful of left over snowpeas from the fridge, but also the deceptively hairy leaves and incredible blue flowers of the borage plant from the herb garden. These leaves really did add a 'cucumbery' coolness and depth of flavour to this soup that was surprising. Trust me, I applied a before and after test to see if there was any difference.

This is my version based closely on Signe Johansen's delicious recipe.

Chilled cucumber & borage soup

1 small white onion finely chopped
I tsp rice bran oil or other non flavoured oil
3 or 4 Lebanese cucumbers, halved and seeded
1/2 cup of  trimmed sugar snap peas or snowpeas
300mls fresh well flavoured chicken stock (homemade or bought)
1 cup young, small borage leaves  from the tops of the stalks(the bigger leaves are too hairy and prickly so avoid these)
white pepper
yoghurt and borage flowers to garnish

Cook onion in oil till translucent.
Put onion, cucumber, stock, borage leaves, peas in food processor or blender and process till smooth. Add salt (if needed) and white pepper to taste.
Refrigerate for several hours and serve in chilled bowls with yoghurt and borage flowers to decorate.


Borage has long been associated with happiness and raising the spirits. It was apparently fed to crusaders and gladiators prior to battles and competitions. Perhaps then it should be on the menu for Sachin Tendulkar aiming for his hundred 100th, or is it Micheal Clarke's secret weapon? It certainly made for a happy ending  to the day at our house.