Scientific Name: Origanum majorana
Common Name: Sweet Marjoram
Thomas Jefferson included marjoram in his list of "objects for the garden" in 1794.[1] In The Virginia Housewife (1824), cookbook author Mary Randolph called for sweet marjoram as seasoning in a recipe for roasted rabbit.[2]
Sweet marjoram was used by the Greeks, and was one of the common pot-herbs found in most early American gardens. It was widely used in beverages and broths, meats, baked goods, stuffing, and condiments. It is an aromatic, biennial herb grown as an annual with small, soft gray foliage and terminal heads of white flowers. The fragrance is reminiscent of nutmeg and cardamom.
- Peggy Cornett, n.d.
1820 February 28. (George Divers to Jefferson). "I am sorry I cannot supply you with all the pot-herbs wanted, we have not the sweet marjoram. sweet basil. or summer savory."[3]
