Oregano

Origanum vulgare · Herb

40 pairings

Oregano (Origanum vulgare) is the warm, peppery, faintly bitter herb at the heart of Mediterranean and Mexican cooking — the "pizza herb." Its small grey-green leaves carry a pungent, almost camphorous bite that, unusually among herbs, sharpens rather than fades when dried, which is why it is one of the few culinary herbs prized more in dried form than fresh.

Picking a good onedrag

Just cut, sharply pepperyYellow, shedding, scentless

Shop freshThe all-rounder: tomato sauce, marinades, roast lamb.Everyday best

Leaf colourGreen, a yellow leaf or two low down

The sprigSofter, but the sprig still stands up

Cut endsBrowned a little, stems still stiff

Rub a leafScent comes if you pinch a leaf hard

What to look for, from just cut, sharply peppery to yellow, shedding, scentless.

Keeping ittap a band

A domestic fridge holds it about 5× longer than the counter.

Humidity

90-95%

Damp but not soaked, 90-95%: drier and the small leaves go papery in a day or two, wetter and the cut stem ends mould.

Airflow

Perforated bag, not sealed

A perforated bag, not sealed: shut tight the sprigs sweat and the stem ends rot; loose in the fridge they dry to a crisp.

Sheds its leaves beside apples

It makes almost none but reacts hard to it: ethylene from apples and pears yellows the leaves and drops them off the stem, worst above 10 °C.

Preparing