French tarragon is a narrow-leaved perennial with a sweet, aniseed-and-hay flavour, the essential herb of béarnaise sauce. It sets no seed; seed-grown Russian tarragon is hardier but coarse and bland.
What it is¶
Tarragon is a perennial in the daisy family, a relative of wormwood and mugwort. It grows as a clump of slim, upright stems with long, narrow, glossy leaves, and dies back to the ground in winter.
There are two forms, and the difference matters:
- French tarragon (var. sativa) is the cook's herb, strongly aromatic and sweet. It rarely flowers in cool climates and its flowers are sterile, so it can only be propagated by division or cuttings. Any "tarragon seed" is not French tarragon.
- Russian tarragon — essentially the wild species — is taller, hardier and grows easily from seed, but its leaves are coarse and faintly bitter with little aroma.
Mexican tarragon (Tagetes lucida), a marigold, is a different plant with a similar flavour that thrives in heat.
Origins and history¶
Tarragon seems to have come into European cooking relatively late, spreading from the east in the Middle Ages; it is mentioned in Arab sources and reached French and English gardens by around the sixteenth century. Its specific name dracunculus, "little dragon", and the French estragon derive from its serpentine roots and from an old belief that it cured snakebite.
It became the defining herb of classic French cuisine: béarnaise sauce, sauce ravigote, poulet à l'estragon and fines herbes. Further east it has a long, separate life. In Iran it is one of the fresh herbs served whole at the table (sabzi khordan), and in Georgia it flavours the bright green soft drink tarkhuna and a tarragon-and-lamb stew, chakapuli.
Flavour and aroma¶
French tarragon tastes of sweet aniseed and liquorice, but with a green, hay-like depth and a faint bite that separates it from fennel or aniseed. The main aroma compound is estragole — named after the herb — which is also prominent in basil and chervil. It can numb the tongue slightly when raw. Heat mellows it quickly; drying mutes it badly, though dried tarragon still has some use in slow dishes.
In the kitchen¶
- Béarnaise: a butter sauce made on a reduction of vinegar, white wine, shallot and tarragon, finished with chopped tarragon (and often chervil). Served with steak.
- Chicken: poulet à l'estragon, roast chicken with tarragon butter under the skin, chicken salad with tarragon mayonnaise.
- Eggs and fish: omelettes, scrambled eggs, poached salmon, sole.
- Dressings and vinegar: tarragon vinegar (steep a few sprigs in white wine vinegar for two weeks), Dijon-and-tarragon vinaigrette, sauce gribiche.
- Mixtures: fines herbes with parsley, chives and chervil.
- Iran and the Caucasus: whole leaves in herb platters, and chakapuli.
Use it with care: a tablespoon of chopped tarragon is enough for a sauce for four. Add fresh leaves at the end, but the stems can go into the initial reduction or poaching liquid.
Buying and storing¶
Choose sprigs with bright, unbruised leaves; smell before buying to make sure it is French tarragon. Wrap loosely in slightly damp paper and refrigerate in a bag or box for up to a week. Tarragon freezes reasonably well, chopped in butter or whole in a bag. Preserving leaves in vinegar is the traditional way to keep its flavour through winter.
Substitutes¶
chervil is the gentlest match and a classic partner. Fennel fronds or a small pinch of crushed fennel seed or aniseed give the liquorice note; basil and Thai basil give sweetness and some anise. In béarnaise, a mix of chervil and a little dried tarragon works if fresh is unavailable.
Pairs well with¶
Chicken, eggs, fish, shellfish, mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes, potatoes, butter, cream, mustard, white wine, vinegar, lemon, shallots, chervil, chives, parsley and white or black pepper.
Growing your own¶
Buy French tarragon as a plant — and smell and taste a leaf first, as mislabelling is common. It needs full sun and very free-draining, not too rich soil; winter wet is its main enemy. It is hardy to around -10°C given good drainage; in cold or heavy-soil gardens, mulch the crown in autumn or grow it in a pot that can be kept dry and sheltered in winter.
Cut stems regularly for the kitchen. Plants lose vigour after three or four years, so lift and divide them in spring, replanting the young outer pieces, or take softwood cuttings in late spring (see propagating-herbs).