Friday's Herbal - Tarragon

This week's herb is tarragon, one of my all time favorite culinary herbs.  In fact, before I even start talking about it, I want you to do this:  go grab a roasting chicken (preferably one you've been brining for a couple hours) and a big handful of fresh tarragon.  take the tarragon leaves and arrange them under the skin of your chicken with some slivers of garlic and some good green olives (like a picholine).  Then take what's left of the herb and stuff it inside the cavity, along with a few cloves of garlic.  Rub some olive oil all over the bird, then add some pepper, and salt if you didn't brine.  Stick it in a 400℉ oven and roast 20 minutes breast up, 20 down, and 20 up again, until the meaty thigh part registers 165℉ on an instant read thermometer.  If you want, you can baste the bird with some white wine.  While that cooks, you can smell the wonderfully seductive aroma and come back to read some more about this lovely herb!

Common name: Tarragon
Latin: Artemisia dracunculus sativa

Tarragon grows wild in Siberia, Afghanistan, Hungary and the Himalayas, and is cultivated in temperate zones.  It's a perennial, that if given proper care in cold climates will return year after year.  It has lanceolate light green leaves that grow on a rather weedy looking, bushy plant that will grow to 2-4 feet tall.

You'll want to grow yours from seedlings, divisions, or cuttings, and you want to be sure you are getting French Tarragon, not the less desirable Russian or Texas Tarragon (A. dracunculoides).  The reason for this is the Russian variety does not have the strong aromatic oils that give French Tarragon it's luscious flavor.  So don't buy seeds; they will be the Russian variety; French tarragon rarely produces seed in cold climates.  When you are go to the nursery, you can know you are getting the right one by tasting a leaf.  The flavor resembles anise and is very distinctive.  The Russian variety tastes like any other green leaf.  It's very important to test the leaf; don't just go by the label or what the grower tells you.  I've made that mistake and ended up with what amounts to a weed with no culinary value.  I know I sound pretty intense about this, but I take my tarragon seriously!  And I've had growers try to pass off the inferior variety on me, telling me it was the good stuff!

 I'll try to pull myself together a little.  Back to growing it in your garden - plant your tarragon in a sunny spot with well-drained soil.  He won't like wet or acid soil.  Planted among vegetables, it is said to enhance their growth.  Tarragon works well as a container plant, although it doesn't grow as big.  I've had good luck with the plant overwintering in the pot and coming back on schedule in spring.  In cold climates you'll want to mulch well any plants in the ground, and if you have them in pots I've read that you can bring them inside.  I personally don't have a lot of luck growing herbs indoors.  Just make sure it gets lots of sun.  In the picture above, the herb isn't actually in a pot.  It's a bottomless pot that I thought might be pretty with the tarragon growing out the top.  We'll see.

Tarragon should be divided every 2-3 years or the dragon-like roots, from which it gets its name, will strangle the plant.  Any flowers that happen to form should be cut back, to keep the plant actively growing.  The flowers are very small and often go unnoticed.  At the end of the season, cut the plant way back.  The cuttings can be dried by hanging the bunch upside down, tied with string and wrapped in a paper cone.  For best flavor it is more desirable to freeze the whole stems or put them in a jar and cover with vinegar and a lid.

Tarragon was considered sacred to the Goddess Artemis.  Because of its serpentine root system, it was traditionally used as an antidote for snakebite.  It's also good for wounds inflicted by dragons.  The Roman scholar Pliny credited the plant for preventing fatigue, and in the Middle-Ages, pilgrims would place a sprig in their shoes before setting off on a journey.

Tarragon is considered to be an appetite stimulant, to relieve flatulence, colic, and rheumatism.  Chew a leaf and you'll find it will numb your tongue a little.  This makes it useful for toothaches.  The plant is antioxidant and may be anti-fungal.

Tarragon has been employed as an aphrodisiac.  For myself, I think it is the chicken cooking with it that I want to ravage.  Maybe that is part of the appetite stimulant properties.  In days of old, it was given to women both before and after birth, and used during menopause for its sedative effect.  It is also useful for gout, heartburn, and to expel worms.

In the kitchen, fresh tarragon is the best.  The flavor is much more delicate than the dried.  I find the dried tarragon you can get in the spice isle to be perfumey and medicinal tasting, but I've dried my own and had success.  Whether fresh or dried, tarragon can be a little overwhelming.  Use it sparingly, except that big handful stuffed inside the chicken.  When preparing dishes that have long cooking times, add the tarragon towards the end to keep it from developing a bitter taste.  Tarragon is mixed with chervil, chives, and parsley to create fines herbes but can clash with other herbs, so is typically best used as the solo star of the show.   Tarragon is also delicious with eggs, mushrooms, fish, shrimp, lobster, onions, artichokes, potatoes, and tomatoes.  For incredible deviled eggs, add the chopped herb to the yolk, along with some good olive oil, salt and pepper.  Or do a mushroom saute with tarragon, olive oil and white wine.

It's probably time to go turn your chicken.  Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!  I will try to have some paintings in progress to show you on Monday, although I am going to the Wasatch Community Gardens annual plant sale tomorrow and then plan to spend the weekend planting tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant, so I'm not sure how much painting will get done!