There's much more to oregano than pizza topping

We Indians are blessed with an overwhelming array of spices and herbs filling our shelves, drawers, fridges and freezers.

- NANDITA IYER

In this melee, if a spice from another part of the world has to make a space for itself, it certainly has to earn it. Oregano is possibly the first "exotic" herb to make itself at home in Indian kitchens.

Not native to our soil, it arrived with the pizza revolution of the 1990s, when Domino's and Pizza Hut handed out those little sachets of "oregano seasoning" that became our first taste of this herb. Ironically, those sachets weren't pure oregano but a mix of oregano, thyme, basil, dried garlic and salt. Still, we got a hit from the oregano and fell in love with it. And when we began cooking pasta at home, oregano became the one herb that instantly lent that classic Italian flavour.

Part of its easy acceptance was the sense of déjà vu its aroma and flavour carried. Oregano's sharp, medicinal notes, thanks to its compound thymol, echo the taste of ajwain (carom seeds), a pantry staple across Indian homes. That familiarity made oregano feel less foreign, even as it came to symbolise something aspirational in the 1990s: the taste of globalisation, shorthand for pizza, pasta, and "continental" food.

There's something punchy and woodsy about fresh oregano that the dried herb does not deliver. After several failed attempts at growing it from seed, I finally managed to establish an oregano patch in my garden using potted herbs bought from a store. I split each pot into five or six clumps and transplanted, and it is rewarding me with a steady supply of fresh sprigs.