Cooking with savory: true story

Anyone here use the herb, savory, in any dishes? I do - in stewed eggplant, for example. To me, it is similar to rosemary in taste, and I find that it adds a certain enjoyable dimension to this vegetable. Normally what I do is sauté some onions and add some savory, then put in a teaspoon or more of tomato paste and a bit of water. I then cook this for about 10-15 minutes, or just until the pieces of eggplant, chopped somewhat finely, soften.

One time I served this dish when a friend was over, and got the embarrassing question from him, as to whether something was moldy in there! Apparently to him, the flavour of savory was akin to mold. I guess it kind of might be, but what a terrible thing to have to answer at the table - especially after taking pride in what I had just prepared. There truly is no accounting for diversity of tastes in the world. No accounting at all.

We put summer savory in green beans in the summertime, and winter savory in green beans in the wintertime.

There truly is no accounting for diversity of tastes in the world. No accounting at all.

And no accounting for rudeness. I am totally amazed at folks who say stupid things to the host who prepared their food. I made crepes for breakfast and one of my guests took one bite, and said, "these are too rich, I can't eat this". The rest of the group all had seconds.

I've only used it in beans/bean soup. Earthy, not moldy to me.

I've only used it in beans/bean soup. Earthy, not moldy to me.

Exactly. Just used it last night in a spring/summer vegetable soup finished with "pistou". Savory adds a little earthy character.

A fail safe use for either version of savory: bee or wasp stings. Magical relief.

[I don't get the moldy taste or aroma, but some people do -- mint with peas, for example, is more reliable, in my experience.

Your guest's comment really deserves another thread -- a polite comment, and a discussion later -- would be much better manners, and a much better relationship builder.

Thanks for the post -- I use savory often, but don't really think about it much.

Regards, Bob