Oregano in the U.S. began when soldiers returning from World War II brought back with them a taste for the "pizza herb", which had probably been eaten in southern Italy for centuries. There, it is most frequently used with roasted, fried, or grilled vegetables, meat, and fish. Oregano combines well with spicy foods popular in southern Italy. It is less commonly used in the north of the country, as marjoram generally is preferred. The herb is widely used in cuisines of the Mediterranean Basin, the Philippines, and Latin America, especially in Argentinian cuisine. In Turkish cuisine, oregano is mostly used for
Cheddar Gorge at the gorge include dormice, yellow-necked mice, slowworms and adders and the rare large blue butterfly ("Maculinea arion"), and small pearl-bordered fritillary ("Boloria selene"). A wide variety of wild birds may be seen in Cheddar Gorge including peregrine falcons, buzzards, kestrels, ravens and the grasshopper warbler ("Locustella naevia"). The flora include chalk grassland-loving species such as marjoram and wild thyme. The Cheddar pink, "Dianthus gratianopolitanus", also known as firewitch, only grows in the wild in the gorge. It was once common in the gorge but declined after being picked by collectors. It is also home to unique species of whitebeam.