I bought Italian oregano ...

[Shel_B]

... and boy, am I glad I did.

 

Over the years I;ve purchased numerous brands of oregano, from commercial-supermarket oregano to oregano sold by spice shops, like Penzeys, etc.  None of those oreganos had the deep flavor and robust aroma of what I used tonight.  They are lifeless by comparison.

 

I bought a Calabrian oregano and a Sicilian-grown oregano.  They are similar, although the differences are subtle.  While I didn't cook a dish using these herbs, I mixed an equal amount into equal amounts of passata and warmed them both to the same temperature. It was hard for me to detect much difference, although the Sicilian seemed a skosh sweeter. More comparisons are needed.

 

One thing is clear, I will not go back to those other oreganos.  However, it would be interesting to compare these to similarly-packaged Greek oregano.

 

    

Edited March 23 by Shel_B
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[FeChef]

Some people can't stand cilantro, i love cilantro. For me its oregano. I can tolerate mexican oregano for some reason, i prefer to not use it in dishes that call for it.

[Katie Meadow]

Where are you buying these Italian oreganos? At an East Bay spice store or on line? I've had Greek oregano, which usually does not seem special to mel, but not those. For general purposes I use Mexican oregano, which I get at Oaktown Spice. For special things I love Rancho Gordo's Indio Oregano. It's one-of-a-kind.

[Shel_B]

12 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Where are you buying these Italian oreganos? At an East Bay spice store or on line? 

I purchased the Calabrian oregano at Berkeley Bowl and the Sicilian at a little Italian grocery in El Cerrito called Giovanni's, 1600 Liberty Street at Potrero.

[AAQuesada]

Wait until you try the bay leaf! I have the Sicilian brand (I've mentioned it before elsewhere) it's pretty amazing. I've always disliked dried oregano but you are right this really tastes much better than any other I've tried as well 

[Shel_B]

1 hour ago, AAQuesada said:

Wait until you try the bay leaf! I have the Sicilian brand (I've mentioned it before elsewhere) it's pretty amazing. 

I found this recently:

 

[ElsieD]

What makes this bay leaf so good?  I ask because I have 2  bay leaves left and need to buy more.  How do the prices of the bay leaves and oregano compare to the standard run-of-the-mill varieties?

[AAQuesada]

just very aromatic, I don't recall the price just that is wasn't enough to make me wince lol

 

 

Edited March 25 by AAQuesada (log)

[Shel_B]

On 3/25/2024 at 11:01 AM, ElsieD said:

What makes this bay leaf so good?  I ask because I have 2  bay leaves left and need to buy more.  How do the prices of the bay leaves and oregano compare to the standard run-of-the-mill varieties?

@ElsieDWhile I found the bay leaves, I've not yet used any, but I can speak to prices.  I paid $3.95 for the package of oregano and $4.95 for the Bay leaves which, when compared to commercial and other "spice shop" prices makes it less expensive than some products based on cost per ounce.  However, the cost for these herbs depends greatly upon where you buy them.  I found Amazon, for example, to be more expensive than my local shops, but many people don't have local shops that carry such items.

 

Good luck in your quest, and please let us know what you ended up with.

Edited March 26 by Shel_B
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