Oregano Classification Sensoric Quality Origin Oregano In

Oregano (also called : Greek oregano, wild marjoram) is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae.

2 Sensoric quality

3 Origin

Several species of genus Origanum are native to the Mediterranean, all of which are traded as a spice. The influence of climate, season and soil on the composition of the essential oil is greater than the difference between the various species.

The most important species are O. vulgare ( pan-European ), O. onites ( Greece, Asia Minor) and O. heracleoticum ( ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer, Balkan peninsular, West Asia). A closely related plant is marjoramMarjoram Origanum majorana Lamiaceae) is a cold-sensitive perennial herb or undershrub with sweet pine and citrus flavors. It is also called sweet marjoram or knotted marjoram and Majorana hortensis''. The name marjoram ( Old French majorane, Medieval lat from Asia Minor, which, however, differs significantly in taste, because phenolic compounds are missing in its essential oil. Some breeds show an flavour intermediate between oregano and marjoram (gold marjoram = gold oregano).

4 Oregano in cooking

Oregano is a conditio sine qua non in Italian cuisine, where it is used for tomato sauceTomato sauce is a condiment made with tomatoes and sometimes also ham, onions, basil, salt, oil, garlic and various spices. A few tomatoes are broiled, skinned and mixed with a small amount of chopped ham, onion and some salt, oil, basil and other spices.s, fried vegetables and grilled meat. Together with basil, it makes up for the character of Italian dishes; see parsley on Italian variants of bouquet garni.

Oregano can effectively combined with pickled olives and capers or lovage leaves; other than most Italian herbs, oregano harmonizes even with hot and spicy food, as is popular in Southern Italy. The cuisines of other Mediterranean countries make less use of it, but it is of some importance for Spanish, French and Greek cooking.

4.1 Pizza

The dish most associated with oregano is pizza, a kind of open pie: Bread dough topped with tasty stuff and baked. Bread of this kind was probably eaten in Southen Italy since centuries; according to the legend, pizza came into existence in 1889, when King Umberto and his wife Margherita sojourned in Napoli (Naples). Pizza, at this time not more than white bread flavoured with tomato paste, was then a popular food for the poor masses. To honour the Queen, a local baker devised a richer kind of pizza: In addition to the red tomato paste, white mozzarella cheese and green basil leaves were employed, thus reflecting the colours of the Italian flag. This invention became known as pizza Margherita and spread all over Italy and, with some delay, over the rest of the world.

Today's pizze rely more on oregano than on basil, and use a multitude of further ingredients: Ham, sausage, fish, shellfish, mushrooms, artichokes, onion, garlic, olives, capers, anchovies and more make pizza a sophisticated delicacy, although it had once been the poor man's sandwich.

4.2 Mexican dishes

Outside the Mediterranean region, oregano is, rather surprisingly, little in use, except among Italian immigrants. The very similar, but stronger, taste of Mexican oregano (see above) is popular not only in its native country México, but also in the south of the US, where it is frequently used to flavour chili con carne (meat stewed with chiles and sometimes beans) or other México-inspired dishes. For this purpose, it is mostly combined with several varieties of chiles and paprika, dried garlic or onion and cumin).

5 Additional info

Catalan: orenga Spanish: orégano

Origanum syriacum is the Bible Hyssop or Syrian Oregano

Origanum laevigatum is the Purple Oregano or Ornamental Oregano.

6 Other plants called Oregano

Mexican Oregano stems from the plant Lippia graveolens ( Verbenaceae) and is closely related to lemon verbena. Although only loosely related to Oregano, Mexican Oregano displays a flavour very similar to that of Oregano, albeit stronger. It is increasingly traded, especially in the US. Its strong aroma makes it an acceptable substitute for epazote leaves if the latter are not available; this wouldn't work the other way round, though.

There is a significant taxonomic confusion about the term "oregano" in Mexican cooking. Several plants are named thus in different parts of México, and there is little clear information about those. Some plants that have been identified as "Mexican Oregano" are Poliomintha longiflora, Lippia berlandieri and Plectranthus amboinicus (syn. Coleus aromaticus), also called Cuban Oregano.

7 External links

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