It was the Maltese artist Kenneth Zammit Tabona that turned me on on Pimm's.

I was, of course, aware of its existence but Kenneth and I were talking about India once and Kenneth told me how he and his friends had drunk every single drop of Pimm's at the Taj in Rajastan.

Hmmm...I thought. He's right. Pimm's is light, alcoholic but very fresh. It is a perfect afternoon cocktail.

Then The Writer and I stayed at the stunning Grand Hotel Villa Feltrinelli and we got to try Pimm's the way it should be. That is always a very dangerous thing to do. Once experienced you will start to see everything else as awful. Such as the Pimm's I had at a local hotel where the bartender decided that this was a great time to 'create' a massive fruit and vegetable cocktail.

Pimm's themselves suggest just orange, lemon and the essential cucumber. At the Villa Feltrinelli they use a corkscrew of cucumber peel, which I think is the way it should be. Some people add apple. At Cafe Luna (Palazzo Parisio) in Naxxar they add strawberries. Whatever you choose to do, keep it delicate and try to keep it simple: a little bit like a Kenneth Zammit Tabona watercolour.

You need:

4 fine slices of orange or blood orange

4 fine slices of Maltese (or unwaxed) lemon

2 inches of cucumber: the outside peeled into strips, the inside chopped into small cubes

Mint leaves

100ml Pimm's No. 1 Cup

200ml ginger ale or seven-up

Ice cubes

 

Mix all except for the mint leaves and serve in large stemmed tumblers with a couple of straws pushed in. Decorate with the mint leaves. Or with a paper umbrella. Ok, with the mint leaves then.