MARJORAM AND ITS UNIQUE ORIGIN

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 508, 10 November 1928, Page 28

MARJORAM AND ITS UNIQUE ORIGIN

Veuus is supposed to have been, the first to raise sweet marjoram. Wild marjoram, according to tradition, was once a youth in the service of King Cinyras, of Cyprus. One day he was carrying a vase of perfumes which he dropped, and in his terror lost consciousness and finally became metamorphosed into this sweet herb. The botanical name, origanum, means “Joy of the Mountain,” and one cannot imagine a more appropriate name for this fragrant plant. One old herbalist tells us that to smell wild marjoram frequently keeps a person in good health. The ancient Greeks believed that if marjoram grew on a tomb the dead person was happy. “May many flowers grow on his tomb, violets and marjoram and the narcissus growing in water, and around Thee may all roses grow,” was an old prayer. Marjoram was one of the strewing herbs, aud it was always put into the sweet-bags for the linen. Marjorams love sun, and they cannot have too much of it. They like a light, dry soil. Sow seeds of marjoram in March or April, and increase by dividing the roots or taking slips any time during the spring or autumn. Sweet Marjoram can only be grown from seed, as it is only an annual. Conserve of Marjoram.—Take the tops and tenderest parts of sweet marjoram, bruise it well in a wooden mortar or bowl; take double the weight of fine sugar, boil it with marjoram water till it is as thick as syrup, then put in your beaten marjoram.— From the ‘Recipies of John Nott, cook to the Duke of Bolton, 1723.” Wild Marjoram Tea.—One pint of boiling water poured on a good handful of the young leaves and flowering tops of wild marjoram. The wild marjoram has a pungent taste, warmer than that of sweet or pot marjoram.