Summer savory, or Satureja hortensis, is also known as the bean herb.

This herb is one of those plants that gardeners who cook really should grow, but don’t. Satureja hortensis has a wonderful strong salty peppery flavour that means only a few leaves have a very powerful effect indeed. It is known as salt-and-pepper because of that flavour, but also as ‘the bean herb’, not just because it makes a humble dish of beans taste wild, but also because it helps prevent some of the less pleasant after-effects of beans.

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Summer savory is a half-hardy annual, and is doing very well for me in a pot in a sunny spot that I water sparingly. You don’t want to give herbs too easy a life: forcing them to work hard for the money reaps a stronger flavour - although do make sure you care for them a little as neglect is not the same as working your culinary plants hard.

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I use a small pinch of the leaves in salads, and have used them in this bean and tuna salad with both the beans and the fish.

My plant is now big enough for me to start cutting some sprigs to dry for winter use. Dried herbs are never, ever as good as their fresh leaves. But winter is never as good as summer, is it?

 

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