There are some herbs that simply cannot be missing in the kitchen. This includes tarragon. Incidentally, it not only tastes freshly harvested, but also dried.
The aromatic tarragon belongs in every herb garden. It also grows well in a balcony box in a sunny location. So really anyone can plant tarragon. Freshly picked, it rounds off many dishes perfectly. If you have a lush tarragon plant, you can also dry the flavorful herb for stash. It's easy as pie.
When is the right time to harvest?
Tarragon is ready to harvest from late spring to autumn. For daily needs, you can always cut off the shoot tips and use the leaves. Shortly before flowering, the aroma is particularly intense due to the high proportion of essential oils. You can see by the buds whether flowering is imminent. If you want to dry or otherwise preserve tarragon for next winter, now is the perfect time for a larger harvest. However, be careful not to take off too much of a shrub in the first year, so that the canes can develop well.
On a dry morning, cut off the amount of tarragon you need for your herb stash. Leave a few branches for ongoing use until late fall.
Drying tarragon - How it's done
Bundled herbs that are hung out to dry look nice - but this approach doesn't make sense with tarragon. A quirk of the herb is that after cutting, the aroma flows back into the stems. You can prevent this by stripping the leaves from the stems immediately after cutting. You then have two options to dry the tarragon:
❍ Air dry tarragon:
Once you have brushed off the leaves, spread them loosely on a clean cloth and leave the harvest in a dry and shady place until completely dry. If you rub a paper between your fingers, you can feel if it is thoroughly dry. That takes a few days. Residual moisture should be removed prior to storageno longer be present so that the tarragon does not get moldy.
❍ Oven drying tarragon:
The tarragon dries faster in the oven. Again, only use the leaves that you spread out on a baking tray lined with baking paper. A dry temperature of 30 to 40 degrees is sufficient. It is important that you stick a cooking spoon in the oven door. Then the moisture can escape faster. But please do not use forced air, otherwise the leaves would be whirled through the oven.
Once the tarragon has dried, it is best to put the leaves in tightly fitting metal cans or dark-tinted glasses. Transparent glasses with a screw cap also work, but then they have to be in the dark.
Alternative Preservatives
You can also freeze tarragon. The aroma lasts up to nine months. The herb is also very suitable for flavoring vinegar and oil. Simply put some mild white wine vinegar or mild olive oil in a bottle and add a few tarragon sprigs and leaves. The tarragon not only looks decorative, it also gives the vinegar or oil a great taste.