Lovage is a herb that seems to be rather out of favour at the moment. It occasionally appears as a component in restaurant dishes but I rarely see it in recipes and can’t recall ever finding it in a grocer’s shop or supermarket.
Fortunately it’s pretty easy to grow from seed (or if you’re pressed for time one can generally find small plants for sale at decent garden centres) and a couple of plants will provide you with plenty of leaves for years to come. As a herbaceous perennial it dies back each year, returning every Spring and growing to around 2 metres in height. It’s bold, statuesque and vigorous and requires very little attention – we simply grow it towards the back of our flower beds where it provides the perfect foil for the flowerheads of neighbouring plants.
In the kitchen it’s a useful addition to a host of different dishes. The taste of the leaves fall somewhere between celery and parsley – but are rather more pungent than both, so should be used sparingly. I love adding them to salads (especially those containing apples) stirring into soups or using it to add a vegetal edge to cocktails, as with this latest recipe.
The base of this cocktail is homemade lovage-infused gin. I simply crammed a small Kilner jar with freshly picked lovage leaves and topped up with local Rarebird gin (its soft liquorice notes work beautifully with the herb) before setting aside for 48 hours, shaking occasionally. After this time I strained it and decanted into a bottle ready for use.
As cucumber pairs so well with herbal flavours (and as I’ve yet to try a cucumber cocktail I didn’t like!) it seemed like an obvious addition. It adds a lively freshness to the drink, which along with the delicate elderflower notes of the St Germain, makes it the perfect drink for for Spring. Simple, seasonal and delicious.
Ingredients
40ml lovage infused gin
20ml cucumber juice
30ml grapefruit juice
10ml St Germain elderflower liqueur
Method
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a shaker, too with ice and shake hard until very cold. Serve into a glass of your choice and serve. Simple and delicious.
