YOUR OREGANO SUCKS

I’m sorry. It’s nothing personal. I mean, yes, it is your fault, and yes, there is something you can do about it – but really, it’s not personal. You shouldn’t feel bad, just because you consign yourself and the people you love to sucky oregano. It’s clearly your ignorance – not any malice on your part – that makes you choose to do this, over and over again. Trust me – I’m the last person to think the less of you for this.

You see, I was once like you.

But it’s okay; don’t worry. I’m here to lead you into the Promised Land – the place where oregano ceases to be bland filler and turns into rock-solid flavor.


For all its popularity, oregano has a fairly short history here in the States. It was virtually unheard-of before World War II, when soldiers returning from the war in Italy sent the popularity of pizza – and “the pizza herb” – skyrocketing. And while that word is generally overused, here it’s accurate; in the decade after the war, sales of oregano in the US increased by a factor of more than fifty. Today, in the American mind – or at least, in my American mind – it’s considered a spice for Italian food… and that’s a big part of the problem.

Italian food and oregano interact in an extremely problematic way. (Well, Italian food in America, at least.) Italian food is popular, cheap, and much of it is easy to make. (It’s possible that causal relationships exist there.) Because of that, many of us can probably count some form of simple Italian dish – of the “random box of pasta plus red sauce plus white cheese” variety – as the first thing we learned to cook on our own. And when we branched out – decided we wanted to up the flavor quotient of that relatively bland canned sauce – the first thing that we remembered was that mom added oregano.

So we went to the supermarket, and picked up a container of dried oregano. One of the little tiny ones, that costs about four bucks. And we used it up in a semester or so, and spent another four bucks on another little jar. Which we used up in another few months. And next time we went back to the supermarket, we saw… the big jar of oregano. The one that cost about twice as much, but had about ten times as much oregano, almost as though the cost of packaging and distribution represented a far, far greater part of the price than the actual herb inside. And even though $8 was a significant cash outlay in those days, we could see the economics. And dagnabbit, it was a good decision – most of us still haven’t needed to buy new oregano since then!

Which, of course, is the crux of the problem.


Remember the rule? Two years for seeds, six months for herbs or ground spices. The large jar of oregano that most American households have is a crime against cooking. Under ideal circumstances – when that container was still on the shelf of the supermarket – it already contained inferior-quality oregano, which had been sitting in warehouses, on shelves, and exposed to light for an unknown amount of time. (Remember? Essential, volatile oils; more light = more energy = more volatility.)

Go into your kitchen and open that container. Does the scent waft, or do you have to stick your nose in the jar before you know it’s there? Is it just dry, or would “desiccated” be a better descriptor? Is the color a rich, vibrant green, or is it fading to brown and gray? Well, let’s do something about that.

The simple point is this – buying spices in the supermarket is a terrible idea. The only time you should ever do it – ever – is if you’re in some kind of emergency situation; people coming over this evening, and no time to make alternate arrangements. With just a tiny bit of forethought, you can make sure that the spices in your house are better-tasting, fresher, and cheaper than the ones you buy in the supermarket.

Cheaper! No lie! In order to make sure I’m stocked up for this blog, I go to a local spice store (the local branch of a national chain, actually) every two weeks. And what absolutely blows me away is how the things that I get there are not only worlds better, but that I actually spend less money this way. As is the case in almost every other facet of life, giving just a tiny bit of forethought – and being willing to stray from the beaten path just a tiny bit – makes your outcome significantly better.

But doing anything for the first time is difficult. It’s confusing and intimidating, and a lot of the time it’s easier to continue doing something you know is wrong – a lot of the time it’s easy to find excuses why not to change things today. So I’m going to make things as easy as possible, and walk you through it.

Bet you never thought you’d have homework from a blog, right? Well, I guess this is more of an in-class assignment.

First, search Google for online spice merchants. I don’t want to shill for anyone on this blog – I’m sure all of the stores that link off of that search are good. (The one I use starts with a P.)

Now, click through to oregano. There are two main variants – Mexican and Mediterranean. More on that later; we’re going to start with Mediterranean, which is the commonly-used one. Look at those prices – I flipped through some online grocery stores a few minutes ago, and oregano averages at about $3.50 an ounce; the first store that Google linked had a quarter-pound for that price. Quality is, again, what we’re shooting for… but quality plus lower price is good stuff. (Not that you should buy a quarter-pound, of course. Weren’t you listening a few minutes ago? Find someplace that will sell you an ounce or two.)

Of course, if we’re buying online, rather than looking for a retail location, we’re going to have to pay shipping. Even adding $5 for shipping, though, it’s still cheaper to buy online… and if we do a little bit of thinking ahead – buy four or five things at a time, or more – the shipping is going to be insignificant.

Go ahead. Place the order. I’m serious! Buy some fennel and cumin, as well. Spend $10. That’s about what two tiny jars of spice would cost you at the supermarket, and then you’ll have done it, once – and the next time you need spices, you’ll know exactly what to do.

Okay, now step two, and this one is a little bit harder. This one is homework. Now, search Google Maps for “bulk spices”. Look for any places within twenty minutes or so of you that sell spices; there are a few national retailers, and a lot of independent stores as well. Even if it’s a little bit of a haul, how often are you really going to have to go? It’s worth travelling forty-five minutes every six months to ensure that your spices aren’t dull and faded. Plus, spice shopping is a lot more fun than it has any right to be. At least if you enjoy smelling new things as much as I do.


In an earlier post, I talked about things that are worth being snobby about. This is one of them. Since I started buying spices this way, it has been like taking off a pair of sunglasses that I’ve been pretty much wearing all my life. The flavors are bold and beautiful; scents waft across the room, and you never have smell something twice to try to figure out what it is.


You can do this! I have faith in you. I was once like you.