Oregano is a hardy Mediterranean perennial whose leaves taste warm, peppery and slightly bitter. Unusually, it is often better dried. Greek oregano is the strongest; Mexican oregano is a different plant.
What it is¶
"Oregano" is less a single herb than a flavour. Botanically it is Origanum vulgare, a variable, hardy perennial that grows wild across much of Europe and Asia, including Britain, where it is also called wild marjoram. Wild British plants are often mild. The strongest culinary form is Greek oregano (subsp. hirtum), with hairy, grey-green leaves high in carvacrol; this, or related Turkish oreganos (often Origanum onites), is most of what is sold dried.
Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens) is from a different family, the verbenas, but has similar compounds, with extra citrus and liquorice notes. It is the right choice for chilli con carne, pozole and many Mexican salsas. Close relatives include marjoram and the Levantine plants used in za'atar.
Origins and history¶
The name comes via Latin from the Greek origanon, often explained as "joy of the mountain" (oros + ganos), a pretty etymology that is uncertain. Oregano was used in ancient Greek and Roman cooking, and the Roman recipe collection attributed to Apicius calls for origanum frequently.
Outside the Mediterranean it was a minor herb for centuries. Its fame in the United States grew in the twentieth century with Italian-American cooking and especially pizza; the story that American soldiers returning from Italy after the Second World War sparked the boom is widely repeated and at least partly true, though Italian immigrant cooking had already introduced it.
Flavour and aroma¶
Good oregano is pungent and savoury: warm, peppery, earthy and a little bitter, with a mild numbing quality on the tongue. Carvacrol dominates, with thymol giving a family likeness to thyme. Drying concentrates rather than destroys this, and removes some grassy fresh notes, which is why Greek and Italian cooks mostly use it dried. Fresh oregano is milder, greener and somewhat lemony.
In the kitchen¶
- Greece: sprinkled dried (rigani) over Greek salad, grilled lamb, souvlaki, roast potatoes with lemon and feta baked in foil. See greek-cuisine.
- Southern Italy: tomato sauces, pizza napoletana and marinara, grilled vegetables, pizzaiola steak.
- Mexico: Mexican oregano in pozole, menudo, beans, adobos and chilli dishes; crumble it over the finished bowl. See mexican-cuisine.
- Latin American and Spanish: chimichurri, marinades, chorizo.
- Blends: Italian seasoning, chili powder, some herbes de Provence.
Crumble dried oregano between your fingers as you add it to wake up the oils. It is robust enough to add at the start of a sauce, and a final pinch at the end adds brightness.
🔁 Dried to fresh
Use about one teaspoon of dried oregano in place of a tablespoon of chopped fresh leaves.
Buying and storing¶
Buy dried oregano in small quantities from a busy shop; the best Greek oregano is sold as whole dried flowering sprigs, which keep their aroma longer than loose rubbed leaves. Store airtight, away from light and heat, and replace after about a year (see how-long-spices-last). Fresh oregano keeps a week wrapped in paper in the fridge. To dry your own, cut stems just as the flowers open, when oil content is highest, and hang them upside down somewhere airy.
Substitutes¶
marjoram is closest but sweeter and milder; use a little more. thyme and savory give a similar savoury warmth. Mexican and Mediterranean oreganos can stand in for each other at a pinch. Italian seasoning contains oregano and works in tomato sauces.
Pairs well with¶
Tomatoes, lamb, chicken, pork, beans, feta, olives, lemon, olive oil, aubergine, courgette, peppers, garlic, chilli, cumin, thyme, basil, bay and paprika.
Growing your own¶
Oregano is hardy and easy. Give it full sun and poor to moderately fertile, free-draining soil; rich soil and shade produce lush but bland growth. It can be raised from seed sown on the surface in spring, but seed-grown plants vary, so buy a named Greek oregano or take cuttings from a plant whose flavour you like.
Cut plants back after flowering to encourage fresh leaves, and divide clumps every three or four years in spring. The flowers are a magnet for bees and butterflies. Mexican oregano is a tender shrub and needs frost protection in Britain.