[Sca-cooks] help with Polish/Hungarian name for herb?

[johnna holloway]

Johnnae llyn Lewis sends greetings.

Just read your note that you found it in
the  Polish Herbs, Flowers & Folk Medicine
which you reviewed sometime back? Iwondered
if it might be in there.
Czombor is, in fact, summer savory.
Thanks to those who responded.


Did it give a scientific name?

I ran it through ILOR which is my favorite new
search engine.. enhanced google and found the
following.

>From Ural-Altaic Etymology (Peter D. Chong)

csombor (earlier: csumburd) = Sauteria hortensis (Mg - According to MÉK,
of Slavic origin) // sembirida = a spice plant (Su)

Sauteria Hortensis is summer savory according to
Mabey's The Complete New Herbal.
So, that all fits.

 Why then did Food & Drink in Medieval Poland
not just identify it as a summer savory?
Page 92 says "Csombor is an herb with a
taste that resembles mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris).
It may be replicated by grinding together equal parts
tarragon, dill seed, and caraway seed." Why replace it
with this mixture and just not summer savory???

I'm wondering if it was in fact one of the artemesias
like those that produced wormwood or absinthe... which of
course wouldn't be mentioned as a modern equivalent.

Any thoughts?

Johnna Holloway

If it's summer savory, why not say use summer savory.


jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
>
> In _Food and Drink in Medieval Poland_, a reference is made to an herb
> that seems to have been imported from Hungary with the recipe for
> sauerbraten; the herb is csombor.
> A google search and some dictionary diving suggests to me that csombor is
> probably the herb called savory. Does anyone on the list have Polish or
> Hungarian expertise enough to verify or deny?
>
> -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
> jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
> "Are you finished? If you're finished, you'll have to put down the spoon."
>
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