It is sometimes called wild marjoram, and oregano substitute close relative, O. Both are very widely used as culinary herbs, especially in Spanish, Italian and French cuisine.
Oregano is related to the herb marjoram, sometimes being referred to as wild marjoram. It has purple flowers and spade-shaped, olive-green leaves. It is a perennial, although it is grown as an annual in colder climates, as it often does not survive the winter. Many subspecies and strains of oregano have been developed by humans over centuries for their unique flavours or other characteristics.
Tastes range from spicy or astringent to more complicated and sweet. Simple oregano sold in garden stores as Origanum vulgare may have a bland taste and larger, less-dense leaves, and is not considered the best for culinary use, with a taste less remarkable and pungent. A closely related plant is marjoram from Turkey, which differs significantly in taste because phenolic compounds are missing from its essential oil. Some varieties show a flavour intermediate between oregano and marjoram. It grows well in pots or containers, and is more often grown for added ornamental value than other oregano. The flavor is pungent and spicy. Growth is vigorous and very hardy, with darker green, slightly hairy foliage.
Generally, it is considered the best all-purpose culinary subspecies. Cultivars traded as Italian, Sicilian, etc. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Oregano is a culinary herb, used for the flavour of its leaves, which can be more intense when dried than fresh. It has an earthy, warm, and slightly bitter taste, which can vary in intensity.
Good-quality oregano may be strong enough almost to numb the tongue, but cultivars adapted to colder climates may have a lesser flavour. Oregano’s most prominent modern use is as the staple herb of Italian cuisine. World War II brought back with them a taste for the “pizza herb”, which had probably been eaten in southern Italy for centuries. The herb is widely used in cuisines of the Mediterranean Basin and Latin America, especially in Argentine cuisine. In Turkish cuisine, oregano is mostly used for flavouring meat, especially mutton and lamb.
In barbecue and kebab restaurants, it can be usually found as a condiment, together with paprika, salt, and pepper. During the summer, generous amounts of dried oregano are often added as a topping to a tomato and cucumber salad in Portugal, but it can be used to season meat and fish dishes as well. The dried and ground leaves are most often used in Greece to add flavour to Greek salad, and is usually added to the lemon-olive oil sauce that accompanies fish or meat grills and casseroles. Oregano oil has been used in folk medicine over centuries.
Oregano essential oil is extracted from the leaves of the oregano plant. Oregano contains polyphenols, including numerous flavones. The essential oil of oregano is composed primarily of monoterpenoids and monoterpenes, with the relative concentration of each compound varying widely across geographic origin and other factors. Drying of the plant material affects both quantity and distribution of volatile compounds, with methods using higher heat and longer drying times having greater negative impact.