Tarragon, a Classic Culinary Herb
How To Use French Tarragon Spice in Classic French Recipes
Dec 14, 2007
Without doubt tarragon is among the Rolls-Royces of any classic, culinary herb collection. Its delicate flavor promotes appetite and complements so many dishes. Use sparingly for a warm, subtle flavor, which diffuses quickly through other ingredients. Use it for French béarnaise sauce, tartar and hollandaise sauce. It is excellent for chicken, egg dishes, butters and creams, potato salads, green salads, cold poached salmon and baked trout. Pick sprigs early in the season to make delightful tarragon vinegar. Two varieties of tarragon are available: French, which has the refined flavor indispensable to classic French cuisine and Russian which has a coarser, bitter flavor. Be sure to use only the French variety in cooking.
In French cuisine, it is often partnered with chicken dishes for its light, deliciously refreshing aniseed-like flavor. It is used to flavor lightly cooked vegetables, especially in a simple tarragon butter sauce used just before serving. Add chopped fresh or dry tarragon to mayonnaise for deviled eggs and cold salmon.
Tarragon, known as the "Little Dragon",derives from the French estragon and the Latin dracunculus, a little dragon. The dragon connection may have come from tarragon’s fiery tang or from its serpent-like roots. "Dragon" herbs were believed to cure the bites of snakes, serpents and other venomous creatures. A native of southern Europe, tarragon is now found in dry areas of North America, southern Asia and Siberia.
In ancient times the mixed juices of tarragon and fennel made a favorite drink for the kings of India. In the reign of Henry VIII, tarragon made its way into English gardens.
French tarragon is a half-hardy perennial with a height of up to 3 feet and a spread of 18 inches. Tiny, insignificant yellow flower heads do not set viable seed except in very warm climates. The leaves are smooth dark green, long and narrow. Oil glands on the underside of the leaves release a bitter-sweet, warm and peppery scent. Tarragon leaves dry quite nicely and retain their unique and classic flavor if stored in glass jars away from direct light.
Only the Russian variety produces viable seed. A lot of growers are propagating and selling it to the unsuspecting public as French tarragon. Both varieties can be propagated by root and tip cuttings. For root cuttings, dig up the underground runners in spring when the frosts have passed, pull them apart; do not cut. You will notice growing nodules; these will reproduce in the coming season. Place a small amount of root, each with a growing nodule, into a pot and cover with soil. Keep watering to a minimum. When well rooted, plant out in the garden after hardening off, about 24 inches apart.
It is possible to take softwood cuttings of the growing tips in summer. You will need to keep the leaves moist, but the soil on the dry side. It works best under a misting unit with a little bottom heat of about 60 degrees.
Recently there has been a spate of rust developing on French tarragon. When buying a plant, look for telltale signs- small rust spots on the underneath of a leaf. If you have a plant with rust, dig it up and cut off all the foliage and dispose of the leaves. Wash the roots free from soil and pot up into fresh sterile soil.
French tarragon grows best in a warm dry position, and needs very well-drained soil. It dislikes humid conditions. French tarragon grows well in containers. As it produces root runners, give it room to grow so that it will not become potbound. At all times make sure the plant is watered, and in the daytime, not at night. It hates having wet roots. Keep feeding to a minimum; overfeeding produces fleshy leaves with a poor flavor. In the winter, when the plant is dormant, do not water. Keep the container in a cool, frost-free environment. In the garden, protect French tarragon during the winter when the plant begins to die back with straw or mulch.
Holt, Geraldene. Recipes from a French Herb Garden. Conran Octopus Limited, 1993.
McVicar, Jekka. Herbs for the Home.Penguin books USA Inc.,1994.
