- Synonyms
-
pharmaceutical Herba Saturejae Albanian Trumza*, Thrumbisht, Trumëza Arabic نذغ نَذْغ Nadgh Aramaic ܙܪܒܘܙ, ܙܘܬܪܐ Zarbuz, Zautra Armenian Խնկենի, Ծոթրին Khngeni, Xnkeni, Chotrin Azeri Çölnanə Чөнанә Basque Azitrail Breton Santurig, Santurig-goañv (Satureja montana) Bulgarian Чубрица Chubritsa, Chubrica Catalan Sajolida* Chinese
(Cantonese)風輪菜 [fùng lèuhn choi], 香薄荷 [hēung bohk hòh] Fung leuhn choi, Heung bohk hoh Chinese
(Mandarin)風輪菜 [fēng lún cài], 香薄荷 [xiāng báo hé] Feng lun cai, Xiang bao he Coptic ⲃⲉⲣⲛⲓⲕⲁⲣⲓⲟⲛ, ⲧⲁⲣⲭⲟⲛ Bernikarion, Tarkhon (?) Croatian Ćubar vrtni; Bresina, Krški vrisak, Ćubar kraški*, Vrijesak* Czech Saturejka Danish Bønneurt Dutch Bonenkruid, Kunne, Koele, Peperkruid, Scharekruid, Tuinbonenkruid Esperanto Satureo Estonian Aed-piparrohi Farsi مرزه Marzeh Finnish Kesäkynteli French Sarriette, Sarriette des champs, Poivrette, Herbe de Saint-Julien; Sarriette de montagne* Gaelic Garbhag ghàraidh Galician Axedrea* Georgian ქონდარი Kondari, Khondari German Bohnenkraut, Pfefferkraut, Saturei, Kölle, Winterbergminze Greek Θρούμπι, Τραγορίγανη Throubi, Tragorigani Greek (Old) Θύμβρα Thymbra (Satureja thymbra) Hebrew זתרה, זעתר; צתרה ורודה, צתרה מדברית זַתַּרַה, זַעְתַּר, צַתְרָה מִדְבָּרִית Satar, Satra, Za'atar, Zatar, Zatara; Satra vruda (Satureja thymbra); Satra midbarith (S. thymbrifolia) Hungarian Csombord, Borsika, Borsfű, Pereszlén, Hurkafű, Bécsi rozmaring Icelandic Sar Italian Santoreggia Japanese セイバリー Seibari Kazakh Тасшөп, Жебір, Жебіршөп Jebir, Jebirşöp, Tasşöp Korean 사보리, 세이보리 Sabori, Seibori Latin Satureia Latvian Parastās raudenes, Pupumētra Lithuanian Dašis; Kalninis dašis* Macedonian Чубрица Čubrica Norwegian Sar, Bønneurt Ossetian Джеджджын Dxedxdxyn Polish Cząber ogrodowy, Pieprzyk, Dzięcielina, Cząberek Portuguese Segurelha-das-hortas, Segurelha-das-montanhas* Provençal Sadrèio; Pebre d’asé* Romanian Cimbru de grădină Russian Чабёр, Чабер Chabyor, Chaber Serbian Чубар, Вријесак, Вресак кршки, Ртањски чај Čubar, Vrijesak, Vresak krški, Rtanjski čaj (Satureja montana) Slovak Saturejka záhradńa; Saturejka horská* Slovenian Vrtni šetraj; Kraški šetraj* Spanish Sabroso, Ajedrea*, Jedrea* Swedish Kyndel Turkish Dağ reyhanı, Anık, Geyikotu, Cibriska, Kekik otu, Kekikotu, Sater otu, Zater; Dağ geyik otu*, Dağ sateri*; Kara kekik (Satureja thymbra) Ukrainian Чабер, Чабер садовий Chaber, Chaber sadovyj Welsh Sawr Yiddish טשאַבער, טשעפּטשיק Tshaber, Tsheptshik Savory, flowering sprig - Note
Names with an asterisk in the above list refer (mostly) tothe winter savory or mountain savory, Satureja montana.
- Another Note
In the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, there is often nor cleardistinction made between a couple of aromatic herbs ofthe mint family: Names likeTurkish kekik or Arabic zatar/satar [زعتر, صعتر]and related forms in Hebrew and Persian, often in conjunctionwith qualifying or descriptive adjectives, may be applied toa varity of native herbs including, but not restricted to,oregano, marjoram,thyme and savory.Usage may vary even within a given language, depending on the region andparticularly on the local flora. In Jordan, zahtarusually means a spice mixture containing such herbs (seesumac for more).
- Usedplantpart
All aerial plant parts. The herb should be cut before flowering.
- Plantfamily
Lamiaceae (mint family).
- Sensory quality
Savory has a strong aromatic flavour, which could be compared tothyme (particularly, thyme harvestedin summer), ajwain or the common strain ofepazote.
Summer savory with flowers Inaddition to this aroma, savory displays a certain pungent taste; of thespices listed before, only ajwain comes close.This pungency has led to savory being used as a (poor) substitute forblack pepper, intended for those who haveto avoid pepper for some medical reason. The perennial winter savory(Satureja montana) is more pungent than the commonannual summer savory (S. hortensis). In any case,this pungency is mostly seen in the fresh (or dried) herb; by boiling,it is drastically reduced and vanishes quickly, so that the two varietiesof savory become equivalent.
The species S. thymbra (thyme-leaved savory,pink savory), native from the Eastern Mediterranean to Iran,has a strong, very spicy flavour somewhere between commonsavory and thyme. I have seenit traded as
zatar parsi
, but I do not know which languagethat is supposed to be.See AlsoSavoryDo you know Savory?What Is Savory: All About the Savory Herb and 4 Related RecipesWinter Savory: A Peppery Herb That Likes the Cold Weather - Rainbow GardensThere is also a lemon-scented variety of wintersavory (S. montana ssp. citriodora) from Slovenia whose flavourclosely resembles lemon thyme. Only the AfricanS. biflora has a true, spicy and very agreeable lemon odour;it is becoming increasingly popular with home gardeners, although it is atropical plant and not very easy to grow. It can be used for sweet and savoryfood alike.
Lemon-scented winter savory Lemon savory (sterile plant) - Mainconstituents
Savory contains an essential oil in varying amounts; good quality should rangebetween 1 and 2%. In contrast to the olfactorily similarthyme, savory contains only minor amounts ofthymol, but the main component is carvacrol, a position isomer of thymol (30to 45%). Furthermore, p-cymene (max. 30%), γ-terpinene,α-pinene (8%), dipentene, borneol, 1-linalool, terpineol and1-carvone are reported.
A related species, Satureja biflora, lemon savoryfrom Africa, contains an essential oil dominated by citral (60%),furthermore camphor, menthone and pulegone.
- Origin
Several species of the genus Satureja are found in the regionaround the Mediterranean Sea, although they probably stem from Western andCentral Asia. Besides S. hortensis (garden or summer savory),the perennial S. montana (mountain or winter savory, fromthe Apennine mountains) is traded in large scale. The flavour of these two species isalmost indistinguishable, although the former is slightly more pungent.
- Etymology
Many names in contemporary European tongues (Portuguese segurelha,Italian santoreggia, French sarriette,Czech and Slovak saturejka and also the regional GermanSaturei) as well as English savory go back to Latin satureia. The English name has been influenced by (but not derivedfrom) the adjective savoury
spicy
: Middle English savery,from Latin saporflavour
via Old French sarree.The origin of the Latinsatureia is dark; postulated connections tosatyr or saturn are most probably wrong, andalso the derivation from saturare
saturate
can hardlyconvince. I guess there is a common origin with Turkish sater,Hebrew zaʾatar [זעתר]and Arabic az-za'tar [الزعتر],which is a term used today in the Eastern Mediterranean to describe differentaromatic herbs (mainly savory, thyme andmarjoram) and also a spice mixture containing,among others, such herbs (see sumac).Thyme-leaved savory flower Thyme-leaved or pink savory, S. thymbra (flowering plant) TheSwedishname kyndel and the second element of Finnishkesäkynteli derive from Latin cunila,which is the adaptation of an obscure Greek plant namekonile [κονίλη]which allegedly meant marjoram. The Germanname of creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum),Quendel, has the same source; see alsothyme.
TheGermanterm Bohnenkraut
bean’s herb
indicates thevalue of savory for bean dishes. Bohnebean
and itsGermanic cognates (Old Norse baun, Old English bēan,Dutch boon) originally referred to the Central Asian broad bean(Vicia faba); today, it is mostly used for the French bean(Phaseolus vulgaris), which was introduced to Europe in the 16.thcentury from its native continent America. Despite numerous cognates innon-Germanic languages (Latin fababean
, Greekphakos [φακός]lentil
,Russian bob [боб]bean
), thename cannot be explained sufficiently; yet the Proto-Indo–European root BʰEUswell, puff
(cf. boil or German Beuleswelling
) isa likely candidate, provided the name indeed is of Indo–European origin.German Kraut has three different meanings:
annual, non-woodyplant
,plant used for culinary or medical purposes
andcabbage
. The wordoccurs in German and Dutch (kruid) only; Swedishkrydd has the narrowed meaningspice, condiment
. ACommon Germanic form KRŪDA can be reconstructed, butnon-Germanic examples are difficult to find, e. g.,Greek bryein [βρύειν]sprout, germinate
(cf. embryo) and Latinfruticarisprout
(see chile).A possible Proto-Indo–European root accounting for both Kraut andbryein is GʷERUspit
(cf. Latin verulance
);but it is doubtful whether the words in question are truly Indo–European.Several European languages name savory as
pepper herb
, obviously inreference to the former use of savory as a substitute forblack pepper. Examples are GermanPfefferkraut, Estonian piparrohi,Polish pieprzyk, Hungarian borsfűand even Korean (huchu namu [후추나무]);the Hungarian name, however, may also mean cress. In French,there is a similar name poivrettelittle pepper
,and Provençal has a rather colourful nickname for wintersavory: pebré d’asé orpebre d’aï (in French more rarely poivre d’âne)donkey pepper
.Although savory is not efficient in the rôle of a pepper surrogate,it has been used a lot in Germany during and immediately afterWorldWarII, and some German cooks have kept this tradition untiltoday. Sometimes, people substitute pepper by savory for allegedhealth reasons.- Selected Links
Indian Spices: Savory (indianetzone.com)Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Bohnenkraut (rezkonv.de via archive.org)Pflanzen des Capitulare de Villis: Bohnenkraut (biozac.de)Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association: Summer SavoryHerbs by Linda Gilbert: SavoryDesirable Herb and Spice Varieties: SavoryRecipe: Sarma (Croatian cabbage rolls)Рецепта: Кавърма по воденичарски (Kavarma Miller’s Style) (gotvetesmen.com)Рецепта: Кавърма-кебап (Meat Kavarma) (bg.wikibooks.org)
| Flowering savory |
Savory’s aroma is closely similar to that of thyme and other spices containing thymol (e. g.,ajwain); yet savory posseses an additional,unique touch of peppery piquancy,which gives food spiced with savory a somewhat rustic character.In my opinion, savory deserves more attention and is widely underrated.
Despite savory’s similarities to thyme, itsapplications are rather the opposite: It is rarely used for meats, butmostly for vegetables. Savory is very often employed for legumes, especiallydishes prepared from dried lentils or beans, where it aids digestionsignificantly. Furthermore, I find it is very well suited for mushrooms.As an authentic flavouring for traditional Central European food, savorymay well be combined with hyssop for rusticbean or potato recipes.
On the other hand, savory is frequently found in commercialspice mixtures for sausages, pâtés or pickles. Though notobligatory, it is often part of the Southern France spice mixture herbes de Provence (see lavender), and it is found in most versions ofGeorgian khmeli-suneli (see blue fenugreek).It is quite a popular culinary herb in Germany; thus, it is often employed inGerman versions of bouquet garni (see parsley).
Some books recommend to add savory early in the cooking process, but to mytaste, savory’s aroma is diminished by long cooking, and therefore I usuallyadd it only one or two minutes before the dish is finished.
Because of its strong affinity to legumes in general and beans in particular,savory makes a good alternative for the herb epazotecalled for in some Central American bean recipes, if the latter isunavailable.
| Winter savory flowers |
InSouthEastern Europe, from the Balkan to the Black Sea, savory has someimportance as flavouring for beans, vegetables and braised foods. In Croatia,there is even a local lemon-scented variety which Ilike to grilled fish, even more than lemon thyme. InBulgaria, savory (named chubritsa or more correctlyčubrica [чубрица])is the most frequently used culinary herb and is employed almostuniversally. Grown in the warm Bulgarian climate, savory develops a mostpleasant aroma reminiscent of thyme. Note that insome Slavonic tongues, names similar to chubritsa may applyeither to thyme or to savory.
Bulgarian kavurma or kavarma [кавърма]is meat (usually pork or mutton) slowly stewed in a clay pot. It contains various vegetables(onions, tomatoes, mushrooms), red or white wine andis seasoned with savory and black pepper.
The national dish of Bulgaria, sarmi [сарми](cabbage rolls), consists of a mixture of friedonions, uncooked rice and groundmeat that is wrapped in cabbage leaves and slowly cooked.Bulgarians prefer cabbage leaves that have been fermented to yielda kind of uncut sauerkraut
and flavour the meat stuffing withsavory (besides pepper, parsley, dill and possiblypaprika). There are many similar foodsin outher South East European places, e. g., the Balkan variant sarma [сарма],which is often cooked in tomato sauce and thus acquires a more intensive, reddish colour.
Quite often one finds spice blends named as chubritzaor tschubritsa (spoken tshubritza)for Bulgarian or more generally Balkan cooking.Yet in Bulgaria, that name almost always refers only to pure savory,not to some herb mixture; the latters are often known as sharena sol [шарена сол] coloured salt
.An alternate name is merudiya or merudia [мерудия], which usuallymeans parsley, but may also refer to either savory or the sharena sol mixture.
In Bulgaria, blends may contain salt, paprika, dried herbs (savory, thyme, basil, lovage)and often also either desiccated garlic or herbswith garlicky flavour like honey garlic (Nectaroscordum siculum ssp. bulgaricumsyn. Allium bulgaricum) known assamardala [самардала]in Bulgarian.
In Georgia, savory is one of the most popular culinary herb. It is mostly used dry and ground, and also appears in thespice blend khmeli-suneli (see blue fenugreek) and in the table condimentsvanuri marili (see garlic).
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