Usage: A key ingredient in Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. Use in tomato sauces, soups, and salad dressings. Try adding oregano to omelets and frittatas, breads, and meat dishes.

Info: It was used by the Greeks to treat poisons, convulsions, and aching muscles. It was also used in the Middle Ages in ointments and seasonings. Popularized in America after World War II as a pizza spice when soldiers returned home. Can be used in most Italian dishes, specially tomato-based sauces and soups. Turkish cuisine use it as meat flavoring, Greeks frequently use in in salads, and Filipino cuisine use oregano to eliminate the smell of boiled meat and also impart its flavor.

There are two varieties of oregano that is frequently used in the kitchen - Mediterranean oregano and Mexican oregano. Both types of oregano are herbaceous perennial. The Mediterranean kind is of genus Lamiaceae - the mint family - and is often called the true oregano or Greek oregano. Mediterranean oregano is milder than Mexican oregano yet it is still imparts a strong, pungent, and sweet flavor.

Origin: Eurasia and the Mediterranean