A savory character

This tasty Mediterranean herb has long tradition in both cooking and folk medicine

- Kerry Boyne

Two types of savory are used in cooking: summer savory (Satureja hortensis) and winter savory (S. montana). In some dishes they are virtually interchangeable, but their botanical differences may determine which you choose to grow.

Summer savory, the better known of the two, is an annual, while winter savory, sometimes called mountain savory, is a bushy perennial that some people find more convenient for the herb garden.

While the two savories -members of the Lamiaceae family and so related to thyme and rosemary can be used in much the same ways and have very similar leaves and flowers, hortensis is generally considered to have a sweeter, more delicate flavour than montana, which is slightly stronger and more bitter.

Neither is commonly used in Australia. I only discovered them from trying out a recipe for pork medallions that called for dried savory and rosemary as the herbal flavouring in a delicious mushroom sauce to accompany the pork. For a herb lover like me, it was something of a revelation and the dish became a regular on our menu.

Savory is, however, very well known in Canada, where summer savory is traditionally used in poultry and pork dishes as well as meat pies; in France, where it is an ingredient in the standard herb mix herbes de Provence; and in Eastern European countries where it is used in many traditional dishes. Indeed, alongside salt and paprika, it takes pride of place on the Bulgarian table.

Both savories are native to the Mediterranean region of southern Europe and winter savory, as its specific name montana implies, grows in mountainous areas of southern Europe and North Africa.

The genus Satureja is reported to have been named by Pliny the Elder. The name comes from "satyr", the mythological half-man, half-goat creatures who supposedly lived in fields of savory.