Ingredient: Tarragon
Category: Herbs, Spices & Seasoning
Season: All
Tarragon or dragon's-wort (Artemisia dracunculus L.) is a perennial herb in the family Asteraceae related to wormwood.
Corresponding to its species name, a common term for the plant is "dragon herb."
It is native to a wide area of the Northern Hemisphere, from easternmost Europe across central and eastern Asia to western North America, and south to northern India and Mexico.
Tarragon is one of the four fines herbs of French cooking, particularly suitable for chicken, fish and egg dishes.
Tarragon is one of the main components of Bearnaise sauce.
It goes well in veal and poultry dishes and is often included in mixed herb dishes.
It is, however, a strongly flavoured herb, so always be sparing with it.
A sprig or two preserved in some white wine vinegar, will help to give a subtle flavour of tarragon to salad dressings all through the winter,
Tarragon has an aromatic property reminiscent of anise, due to the presence of estragole.
French tarragon is the variety generally considered best for the kitchen, but cannot be grown from seed, you can only grow it from cuttings, buy a plant (one will be enough) do make sure the label says it's French tarragon.
Russian tarragon (A. dracunculoides L.) can be grown from seed, but is much weaker in flavour.
Russian tarragon is a far more hardy and vigorous plant, spreading at the roots and growing over a meter tall.
This tarragon actually prefers poor soils and happily tolerates drought and neglect.
It is not as strongly aromatic and flavoursome as its French cousin, but it produces many more leaves from early spring onwards that are mild and good in salads and cooked food.
The young stems in early spring can be cooked as a tasty asparagus substitute.
Grow indoors from seed and plant out in the summer. Spreading plant can be divided easily.
Dried tarragon is useful, if you steep it in warm water for a minute or two before using.
Tarragon is used to flavour a popular carbonated soft drink in the countries of Armenia, Georgia and, by extension, Russia.
The drink, named Tarkhun ( Тархун ), which is the Armenian and Russian word for tarragon, is made out of sugary tarragon concentrate and coloured bright green |