Kitchen Garden Simon Courtauld

SAVORY

Savory is a herb with an interesting, if not entirely credible, history. It is said to have been introduced to this country by Roman soldiers as an aphrodisiac. It became known as the love herb and was favoured by druids celebrating the fertility of summer. Such was its reputation that the growing of savory was banned in monasteries in the Middle Ages as it might distract the monks from their devotions.

It is certainly true that, with its aromatic, slightly peppery flavour, savory was a popular and cheaper seasoning than the pepper being brought to Rome along the spice route from southern India. Over the centuries, savory was gradually replaced in the kitchen garden by thyme, and today the herb seems to have fallen out of fashion. But it is