Sweet Marjoram: Not just a culinary herb

                    Author: Forest & Kim Starr (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)


Sweet Marjoram (Arab. Marzanjoosh), botanically known as Origana Marjorana hortensis is a perennial subshrub of the mint family. Its fragrant, fresh or dried leaves are widely used for flavoring many of the meat and fish dishes found in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. When cooking, sweet marjoram leaves can be added to soups, stews, tomato sauce, stuffing, legumes and vegetables. Its aromatic leaves combine well with olive oil, vinegar and a pinch of salt for a light salad dressing.  

The culinary uses of marjoram abound, but it also contains various medicinal properties . As recorded in  Ibnul Qayyim's Medicine of the Prophet:

•  Smelling it: Marjoram helps to expel gases from the stomach, increases the power of smell and reduces the pain to trifacial neuralgia. Smelling the plant also abates cold headache and other types of headache caused by in-temperament of the phlegm and black bile (humors). 

• Drinking it: Both marjoram and wild marjoram ( Origanum vulgaris) drank as an herbal tea are used to treat indigestion, nausea, cold symptoms, and abdominal pain. Marjoram also reduces the pain of menstrual cramps, stimulates menstrual period, helps fetation and fertility. It relieves backache, pain of the knee, and it is excellent for relieving exhaustion and loss of strength. 

• Applying it: A fomentation of grounded marjoram leaves relieves swelling and redness of the inner layers of the eye. An inunction of marjoram mixed with vinegar also can be used in the treatment of scorpion sting.

For those of you who might be interested in growing marjoram in your own kitchen garden, here are some links below.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/herb/tips-for-growing-marjoram.htm
 http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/11814/growing-oregano-in-the-kitchen-herb-garden