Marjoram Uses and Taste | Discover

Did you know

Deliciously versatile, marjoram can be used to enliven a variety of foods including soups, salads and sauces. Marjoram is a member of the mint family alongside sage and basil, and its aromatic, subtle sweetness is its trademark. While mainly used in savoury cooking, in more recent years it's started to feature in cocktails, and works particularly well with clear spirits like gin and vodka.

Flavour profile

Marjoram has a delicate, sweet flavour and should be introduced towards the end of cooking for the best results. Any sooner and the herb could lose some of it’s brilliant intensity as the essential oils evaporate off. It's packed with similar essential oils to oregano, so comparisons are perhaps inevitable, but marjoram offers up a mellower, less spicy version of these medicinal, green grass aromas. Great care is taken when cultivating our marjoram - we source it from the very best climates and carefully dry each crop to preserve those flavour-packed oils.

Best in…

Marjoram is most at home with chicken and other white meats like turkey and pork. For a delicious herby sauce, add to cream, white wine, stock and chopped onion and pour over roast chicken. Give a subtle twist to roasted vegetables with a liberal sprinkle, or combine with black pepper and scatter over roast potatoes. For a delicious bread stuffing, combine with breadcrumbs, onion and thyme then add an egg and stock to the mix before cooking it all in the oven.

History

While indigenous to Cyprus and Turkey, Egypt has successfully cultivated marjoram for centuries too. It's also grown wild in England for over 800 years.

Did you know?

- Folklore has it that a pinch of marjoram in each room of the house might attract a husband and adding it to your bath can help resolve sadness or grief.
- Marjoram should have a good colour with even-sized leaves and a fresh aroma
- Marjoram (Origanum majorana) is sometimes confused with Oregano (Origanum vulgare), as they're closely related members of the Lamiaceae family. Oregano has also been called wild & common marjoram just to add to the confusion.