Oregano (rigani)

This powerful oregano was picked on the island of Crete, the island where the mountain slopes are colored by a carpet of flowering herbs in the summer. The flavor is so concentrated that it is advisable to use the oregano sparingly. Give your pizza, egg dish or salad a boost with this unique herb.

Note: the oregano leaves may be (significantly) finer than those shown in the image!

Oregano is the popular name for the wild marjoram, a plant from the lip flower family. The use of oregano on pizza and in salads in Italian and Greek cuisine is famous, especially in combination with tomato and eggplant. Yet oregano is not only used in European cuisine, but also in Latin American cuisine.

Like the true marjoram (Origanum majorana), oregano is woody. The leaves are larger, have a stem, are slightly hairy and green on both sides. Oregano is often harvested 'on the stem'. That is why many oregano stem and leaves are processed together.

This is not the case with our oregano, the leaves are stripped from the stems after harvesting. In addition, our oregano is harvested early in the summer, shortly before flowering, when the leaves are at their most flavorful. This wild-growing oregano, which is called rígani on Crete, has naturally and due to the careful method of harvesting and processing a more powerful and broader flavor palette than dried, cultivated oreganos, but is also more powerful than fresh oregano.

Therefore, use it to give a dish (hot or cold) a boost. Be more sparing with this wild oregano than you may be used to. Prevent the powerful flavor of this wild oregano from overpowering other flavor components. The more delicate the dish, the more you should consider using marjoram instead of oregano. A rule of thumb is: 

• rustic Mediterranean and southern French dishes oregano,
• refined northern French dishes: marjoram.

Smell and taste

The taste and smell of oregano is determined by carvacrol (spicy and bitter), thymol (thyme), myrcene (peppery) and sabinene. The latter provides the sweet notes.

Usage

As strange as it may sound, oregano is not only suitable for savory dishes, but also for sweet dishes, even in ice cream or yoghurt. A favorite use, however, is oregano in combination with garlic and lemon, for example as a seasoning for (fatty) lamb, and on or in egg dishes.

Add dried oregano at the last minute. The best time to add dried herbs is no more than ten minutes before the end of a preparation. That is sufficient for the leaves to absorb moisture again and to transfer the flavor to the dish.

Did you know that the flavor of these dried herbs is best achieved when you let the herbs absorb moisture in oil for a while, so that they can transfer their flavor to the oil? Then you cook with this aromatic oil.

Features:

• 100% dried leaf (zipped) of the Origanum vulgare - wild
• origin: Greece (Crete)

Assortment

• available in glass and stand-up pouch (no test tubes)
• glass jar contains 20 grams
• stand-up pouches with a capacity of up to 20 to 250 grams
• larger quantities on request

Gift packaging

• the jar is available in a tasteful gift packaging, consisting of a cube box filled with black tissue paper
• for an overview of our gift packaging, please refer to the gift packaging section

General advice

• store the oregano in a dark, dry and cool place
• the expiration date is an indication

Save:

• store your oregano in closed packaging
• preferably store in a dark, dry and cool place
• best before June 2026 (06/2025)
• this expiration date is an indication