Chilled cucumber and avocado soup with spicy glazed shrimp

Keep the shelled shrimp refrigerated.

Heat a saucepan on high, add two tablespoons of olive oil and the prawn shells, with the heads if you have them.

Roast the shells a couple of minutes until they turn reddish and go fragrant.

Add the garlic, shallots and carrots, drop the heat to medium-low and cook 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the pepper, cumin, coriander, finely chopped bell pepper, tomato paste and a little lime juice; add a splash of water if the bottom is dry.

After a minute or two add the remaining water, bring to the boil, then simmer about half an hour or until the liquid has reduced by half.

Meanwhile put the cucumber in the blender with the buttermilk, red wine vinegar, the leftover lime juice and the sugar.

Halve the avocado down to the pit, scrape out the pulp with a spoon and scoop the flesh into the blender. Discard any that is black.

The lime juice and the vinegar work as an antioxidant and stop the avocado browning.

Blend the soup about 2 minutes.

Taste, then season with salt and pepper and stir so the seasoning is combined.

The soup should be thick but still liquid: thin it with more buttermilk, thicken it with more avocado, and re-taste each time.

Refrigerate the soup at least an hour until very cold.

Pass the reduced bisque through a sieve into a saucepan, scraping the sieve with a spatula and pressing hard on the shells to squeeze out all the juices.

About a third of a cup of sauce comes off the sieve; it goes back on medium heat to reduce to about a quarter cup.

Stir in the honey -- it thickens the glaze and makes it shiny -- bring to the boil and reduce by half again.

When the glaze coats a spoon, add the shrimp and a little olive oil on medium heat and cook about a minute.

Turn the prawns after 30 seconds so both sides cook evenly, then turn the heat off.

Taste the glaze and season with a little salt and pepper.

Pour the cold soup into a verrine or a glass, a small serving because it is rich.

Sit two shrimp per person gently on top, drizzle a little glaze around and finish with a mint sprig.