I sometimes think oregano is a little underrated. Popular cooking shows seem to focus on basil when featuring Italian cooking but I remember oregano playing a larger role in my mum’s cooking. Oregano is a must in both pizza and pasta sauce. However, the most interesting way I remember my mother using it was with a barbeque. She would pick a bunch of the longest and bushiest stems and tie them into a bouquet. She would then dip the bouquet into a marinade of olive oil, crushed garlic and freshly squeezed lemon juice and brush the meat while barbecuing. Her method meant that the meat was delicately infused with the flavours of the marinade and not overwhelmed by it.

My oregano is growing like crazy in the garden. It’s a revelation as I’d always grown it in a pot. Now, in the ground, it’s spreading like lawn. I have to keep cutting it back so it doesn’t take over. We gave a bunch to Poppet’s day care the other day and the cook was really pleased because she was making Jambalaya for lunch and said she would use the oregano. Wow, what great lunch for the kids I thought. I asked Poppet what he had for lunch that night and he said ‘Ginger Bread Man’, which is his standard answer to that question.