Welcome to the Celtnet Herb Guide. As this site has grown and many more recipes have been added it's become evident that a guide to the various herbs available to the cook is necessary. With spices becoming more commonly available herbs have become the 'Cinderella' flavourings in the culinary world and more and more herbs are falling out of common usage. These pages are an attempt at bringing all the various culinary herbs together into one place so that you can see what's available and perhaps find something new to use in your own cooking. To use this Herb Guide simply click on the first letter of the herb name above or below. Alternativey why not just browse through the guide. All the herbs given here whether common or rare can be obtained via a specialist herb nursery.

This is the description page for Oregano (Origanum vulgare) and includes a description as well as an image, if available and a selection of recipes from this site that relates to the herb: Oregano.

Oregano (sometimes also known as Pot Marjoram and Wild Marjoram), Origanum vulgare is a perennial herb of the Lamiaceae (mint) family. The plant grows to about 30 cm tall with leaves up to 4cm long. The name itself derives from the Greek origanon [ὀρίγανον], a compound of oros [ὄρος] “mountain” + the verb ganousthai [γανοῦσθαι] “delight in”. Oregano leaves can be used both dried and fresh, however, unlike most other herbs dried oregano leaves are actually more flavourful than the fresh leaves.

The leaves have an aromatic, warm and slightly bitter taste and the stronger the flavour the herb the better its quality. The herb is an essential component of both Greek and Italinan cuisine and it is a critical component of the tomato sauce used as pizza topping. It should also be noted that oregano has antimicrobial activity and can be used as a food preservative. This herb aslo has high antioxidant activity and its use can prevent other foods from turning colour.

The flavour of oregano is highly-variable, with Greek Oregano typically being the most pungent and aromatic. Overall, the flavour is aromatic and warm but with a slight bitter overtone that marries well with the sweetness of tomatoes. The best quality of oregano is so strong that is almost numbs the tongues. However, modern cultivars that are adapted to more northerly climes tend to be slightly unsatisfactory in flavour. Unlike most other herbs the flavour of oregano intensifies on drying, which is why these cultivars are better used dried rather than fresh.

The leaves typically contain up to 4% essential oil that typically contains variable amounts of the phenolic compounds carvacrol and thymol. The essential oil also contains a variety of monoterpene hydrocarbons, with limonene, terpinene, ocimene, caryophyllene, β-bisabolene and p-cymene) and monoterpene alcohols (linalool, 4-terpineol having been identified.

Several species of the genus Origanum used as herbs are all native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, with Origanum vulgare (not with pan-European distribution), Origanum onites (Greek oregano, native to Greece and Asia Minor) and Origanum heracleoticum (native to Italy, the Balkan Peninsula and Western Asia) being, culinarily, the most important. Though Greek Oregano is typically considered to be the most intense in flavour, in reality, there is little difference between the various species and climate, season and soil type has a much larger effect on the flavour rather than the exact species. There is also a golden-leaved cultivar of Origanum vulgare which has a flavour intermediate between oregano and marjoram. One further species is of note, Dittany of Crete Origanum dictamnus which is only found on the island of Crete and has its own entry in this guide.

The English name oregano ultimately derives from the Green origanon [ὀρίγανον] which may be a compound of oros [ὄρος] (mountain), and the verb ganousthai [γανοῦσθαι] (delight in) denoting oregano's preference for growing on rocky slopes as high elevations in its native Mediterranean.

The recipes given below contain oregano as an important or dominant component. However, you can also access all the recipes on this site that contain oregano as an ingredient.