Maggiorana

From the above nomenclature you can see there is some difficulty in distinguishing these fragrant herbs and, if I have done so correctly, it will be thanks to Geoffrey Grigson’s The Englishman’s Flora. Both origano and maggiorana have been employed in cooking for a very long time. A picture from an Italian illuminated manuscript shows in the late 14th century a lady watering an ornamental garden pot containing plants of ‘maiorana’, and underneath is written: ‘confortat cerebrum et omnia viscera’ (comforts the head and all internal organs).