Mexican oregano

Origan mexicain

What it is

Lippia is a verbena, a shrub that can reach two metres, and shares nothing with the Origanum of the Mediterranean beyond a similar phenol and the same English word. Most of what reaches the market is still gathered from wild stands in Oaxaca, Puebla and Hidalgo rather than farmed, which is why leaf size and strength vary from bag to bag.

In the kitchen

Toast it dry in a hot pan for ten to fifteen seconds, until it smells of lemon, then crumble it between your palms into the pot — untoasted it stays dusty and reads as hay. It holds up to two hours of simmering where Mediterranean oregano fades in twenty minutes.

Goes with

Chile pasilla Ancho chilli Hominy (nixtamalised corn) Black bean Cumin Tomato Pork

Also used with

Ayocote bean

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