Tarragon organic

Organic chopped tarragon

Tarragon is a perennial, herbaceous plant used as an herb. The stems are light green, slightly furrowed and hairy. The leaves are scattered, linear and completely margined. The upper side is shiny dark green, while the underside is light green.

The flowers are gathered in small baskets, which in turn form small stands at the leaf corners. If the plant blooms – which is rare in Denmark – the individual flowers are white-light green and quite small. The fruits are nuts with a short stalk. However, neither flowers nor seeds are seen quite often in Denmark, where the sterile clone "French tarragon" is grown.

The root network consists of horizontal rhizomes and strong, deep roots. The plant spreads by shoots from the underground shoots.

The plant reaches a height of about 60 centimeters and becomes approximately one meter wide. All above-ground parts of the plant when fresh smell strongly of anise, while dried parts smell of coumarin. The green parts of the plant contain essential oils (estragole, fellandren and ocimen), flavonoids, tannins and bitter substances.

Leaves and young shoots of the plant are a well-known and popular spice that is included in mixtures such as "fines herbes" and "bouquet garni" as well as in béarnaise sauce and sauce tartare. In French cuisine, rabbit cooked with dijon mustard and tarragon is a classic.

Seed-propagated plants of the species are marketed under the name "Russian tarragon". These are plants which flower and set seed, but which do not have the fine, spicy scent and taste of the French tarragon.

Latin name: Artemisia dracunculus