
When at home, Terry de Gunzburg, founder of the French cosmetics company By Terry, enjoys gardening, cooking, entertaining, and collecting art, china, and linens. She is one of 20 tastemakers around the world whose knack for the art de vivre landed her in Pierre Sauvage’s book, Be My Guest: At Home with the Tastemakers (Flammarion, 2020). In the following excerpt from its pages, we peek inside Terry’s flower-filled Parisian home in the Auteuil neighborhood, featuring interiors by Jacques Grange. Her recipe for Pea, Zucchini, Lettuce, and Cucumber Soup makes lovely use of lemon verbena from the herb garden. Serve the soup with tea sandwiches for a light spring lunch.



Pea, Zucchini, Lettuce, and Cucumber Soup
Serves 4
Terry is a foodie who loves nothing more than to snatch a moment to improvise mouthwatering dishes, perfumed and moistened with infusions of verbena or flavored with China tea in place of broth. Try the technique in your own kitchen with her recipe for Pea, Zucchini, Lettuce, and Cucumber Soup.

Ingredients
- 1 bunch lemon verbena
- 1 1/4 cups (9 oz./250 g) green peas (fresh or frozen)
- 2 small zucchini, sliced
- 1 lettuce heart or small sucrine lettuce*
- A few carrot tops
- 1 cucumber, peeled and deseeded
For the Garnish
- 2 tsp thick crème fraîche
- Cilantro leaves
- Fresh goat cheese or ricotta (optional)
- Unsweetened crème Chantilly (optional)
Method
- Boil the lemon verbena in water to make a very strong infusion, then remove the leaves.
- Use the infusion to blanch the peas, zucchini, lettuce heart, and carrot tops. Remove the vegetables and set the infusion aside.
- Place all the vegetables in the container of a blender or food processor, add the cucumber, and blend. Strain through a sieve to obtain a smooth, creamy consistency.
- Boil the infusion to reduce it, then add to the soup.
- Stir in the crème fraîche and garnish with the chopped cilantro leaves.
- If liked, serve with a mousse of fresh goat cheese or ricotta mixed with the unsweetened crème Chantilly.
Recipe, captions, and photography excerpted from Be My Guest: At Home with the Tastemakers by Pierre Sauvage, Flammarion, 2020. Photography © Ambroise Tézenas