The tarragon is currently looking superb in the garden in Provence where it is, by name, considered native. French tarragon differs from its cousin Russian tarragon by having a strong aromatic flavour, while the Russian version tends to be more hardy and vigorous with a vast root network but rather less flavour. Back in the UK the weather has been such that as a perennial the tarragon is still dormant and waiting to surface, so we explored the Provencal garden for our fresh tarragon. Tarragon comes from the Asteraceae family and sports the Binomial name Artemisia dracunculus.

Growing tarragon
Tarragon is remarkably easy to grow as it likes poor soil and can cope well with drought or neglect, however for the best results we recommend starting indoors from seed in a tray or propagator from early spring. Ours went into the propagator at the end of February and is now nearly ready to plant out in the garden as small plants. Alternatively if you have recurring tarragon which has been spreading it is easy to split and redistribute elsewhere. Tarragon grows to just over a metre in height and features thin branched stems with long thin leaves approximately 2 – 6cm long but with a width of around 5mm.

Cooking with tarragon
Tarragon is considered one of the four “fines herbes” of French cooking and works beautifully with softer flavours such as chicken, fish or egg dishes. In red meat dishes it can get lost but in milder dishes it has a wonderful fresh aniseed flavour and is the most popular herb used with chicken. It is also brilliant as a marinade by gently crushing the sprigs and marinating them in vinegar for a few weeks to bring out the most wonderful flavoured vinegar. It is also one of the key ingredients for Béarnaise sauce, like Hollandaise sauce it uses a basis of melted butter and egg yolks, but while the Hollandaise then uses lemon and vinegar, the Béarnaise uses a reduction of vinegar and tarragon for an altogether different flavour. We will add a Béarnaise recipe to the recipe section later this year. A favourite for me is to add chopped tarragon leaves to a fresh salad adding freshness which compliments a simple French dressing.