A Spoonful of Sugar

With a glass of Pimm's in hand, I am rather prone to floating off into a fantasy of middle-England village life, complete with village fêtes and all their inherent competitions. Naturally I always win the blue ribbon for the best Victoria Sponge and my jams are renowned throughout the entire county.

Picturesque fantasies aside, Pimm's, to me, is as quintessentially English as watching cricketers out on their village green and thatched cottages. Before I moved to England that was my view of the entire country, and while I know that England is far more than romantic stereotypes--both in good and, sadly, bad ways--I still get a weird little thrill every time I see our village team out practising in their whites.

I guess I'm an old romantic...

But back to Pimm's. Its a bit of an odd drink. On the face of it, a drink of spirts infused with vegetables and herbs just doesn't sound attractive. However, add some lemonade and some ooograh as Detritus the Troll would describe a sprig of mint, some slices of cucumber, and maybe a slice of lemon or orange, and you've got a little slice of heaven in a glass.

It's just so refreshing and drinkable. That's the down-side of it, unfortunately. You can sink quite a few glasses of Pimms while completely forgetting that it's boozy, and only remember when you try and stand up. But it's worth it.

And so to the sorbet... While happily drinking Pimm's pre-Wimbledon, it struck me that it would make a fantastic sorbet. So, after some research into just how much Pimm's No.1 I could get away with using, I made a syrup infused with the usual suspects--orange, lemon, mint, cucumber--and added Pimms.

The resulting sorbet was everything I had hoped it would be. Clean, refreshing, and complex in flavour. Unmistakably Pimm's.