It has been quite some time since I posted an informative blog about a herb or spice. Today it seemed like the right time to get back in to a rhythm. On Wednesday I received the delivery of my planting soil. It is a mixture of top soil and compost and has been placed into the planter box that the builders put up a few years ago! It has rained quite a bit and by tomorrow the soil should have settled. The first thing I am going to plant will be my seed bombs followed by some rhubarb. The rhubarb is quite ironic as I have never seen it here and so I brought seeds back from Italy. When I went to pay for the soil at my local nursery I saw rhubarb! Now, on to savory of which there are two cooking varieties, summer and winter.
The summer variety is an annual and grows to 45cm. It has slender, dark green leaves, pink flowers and an aroma of thyme and oregano Winter savory is a perennial subshrub with dark green, narrow leaved foliage and white flowers. Lemon (African) savory is an excellent culinary perennial herb with creeping branches, attractive mauve flowers and bright green, fine leaves that are strongly lemon and oregano scented. Thyme leaved savory (za’atar rumi / savory of Crete / pink savory) is a low growing, stiffly branched perennial with whorls of small greyish leaves that have an intense oregano and thyme fragrance. Yerba buena is a perennial herb with trailing branches of fragrant round leaves. Jamaican mint bush is an intensely mint scented plant with small, oval, glossy bright green foliage.
Except for yerba buena which grows well in a hanging basket out of direct sunlight, all species should be grown in full sun in well drained neutral to alkaline soil. In cold areas, give plants winter protection. All species can be propagated by seed sown shallowly in spring and early autumn. Summer savory can be cut down whole before flowering and then dried. Harvest the leaves of the other species fresh as required and dry or freeze them in sealed containers.
Both summer and winter savory have a similar aroma – fragrant with a hint of thyme and a peppery, distinctive taste, although the flavour of summer savory is stronger. The flavour is better before the plant flowers. Savory retains its flavour when dried; in this form it is preferred for cooking. Savory goes well with lentils and peas, slow cooked soups, stews, meatloaf and egg dishes. Use it in coatings for delicate meats such as veal, and for fish. Add to sauces, pâtés and homemade sausages. It is a key herb in herbs de Provence. Use summer savory in marinades, especially for olives. In Croatian cooking, a lemon scented strain of savory is used with fish and seafood.
information sourced from The Complete Book of Herbs
What I blogged:
- one year ago – venison pie
- two years ago – calamari risotto
- three years ago – gurnards with scallops
Is THAT what za’atar is! I thought it was a variety of thyme! Thanks Tandy! x
I was so amazed when I read it as I never knew what it was either!
I need to check the pack of rhubarb seed I have – I thought they were only summer planting – would be lovely to plant the seed now already for Pete – it is his favourite!
Have a super weekend.
🙂 Mandy xo
I will check mine as well before I plant them – but first I need to get the soil bedded down and something growing 🙂
I’m trying to think whether we get summer or winter savoury here-the plants don’t look that familiar but to be honest I’m hopeless at plant identification!
My savory leaves are so big that I am not sure which variety they are either!
I love your herb and spice posts. Informative and useful tips for cooking. Za’atar is used for both herb and the spice mix which consists of sumac and other dried herbs (thyme, marjoram, oregano mainly), sesame seeds and coarse sea salt.
Have a great weekend, we are enjoying a lovely spell of hot summer weather!
enjoy the hot weather and thanks for the ingredients – I had another comment about this as well 🙂
I have never heard of Savory.. I am so battling with basil at the moment, it just withers and dies!!
Mine has as well! SO sad as I love using basil in a lot of dishes 🙂
Now, please correct me but I thought these days ‘za’atar’ was actually a spice MIXTURE used in Middle-Eastern cooking using sumac etc? At least that Methinks the name originally pertained to oregano, thyme and savoury, all three? Perchance am wrong or the labellers are wrong or whatever . . .
Eha, you are not wrong. Za’atar is the name of the herb and the name of the condiment which uses the herb, as well as sumac, dried sesame seeds and salt. I shall have to try and make some za’atar spice mix for my blog 🙂
Savory is one herb I’ve rarely tried! Thanks for this post!
My pleasure – and I think I have to change your feed for my reader?
I need to become better at harvesting herbs. I let them go to seed!
Tammy, I am the same with the herbs in my bottom garden – that is why I have pots outside my kitchen door now 🙂
Thanks for this informative post, and going by the pics, these useful herbs will also look good in any garden
Mine has grown HUGE!
I really need to give my garden some attention too 0: I expect so much from it yet I seem to be giving so little 🙂
I did not get into the garden this weekend like I meant to – but today is another day 🙂