The history of marjoram and oregano are inseparable. It was believed that the Greek God Venus created the plants and gave them their wonderful sweet flavour and scent. The herb was said to the favourite of Arphrodite.

The word oregano means “joy of the mountain” from the Greek oros, meaning mountain and ganos meaning joy. Oregano grew prolifically on the Greek hillsides and was encouraged because it was believed to make the meat from the grazing goats and sheep more tender and tastier.

Oregano has been long referred to as wild marjoram, and, in fact, oregano means marjoram in Spanish. However, although the Mediterranean variety of oregano closely resembles and is closely related to marjoram, they are different herbs. In fact much of the marjoram referred to by the ancients was actually oregano.

Botanists used to refer to both plants as Origanum majorana. Now they are referred to as Majorana hortensis, but this name really belongs to the sweet marjoram, originally from the Mediterranean. All very technical and designed to confuse, I think…

Anyway, oregano spread throughout Europe from Greece and it was the Spanish who introduced it to the New World. It is grown in Mexico for export as Mexican oregano