Tarragon Leaves, Cut

Bright and fragrant with a subtle anise character, these finely cut leaves bring elegance to dressings, béarnaise sauce, chicken, seafood, and vegetable dishes.

Use to flavor sauces, poultry, seafood, and classic French dishes. Great in white sauces, egg dishes and in stuffing for poultry.  These finely cut leaves bring elegance to dressings, béarnaise sauce, chicken, seafood, and vegetable dishes. A requirement for genuine French-inspired cooking.

Add late in cooking: Tarragon’s essential oils are volatile, so its flavor fades with long heat. Add it in the last 5–10 minutes of cooking or sprinkle it on just before serving.

Rehydrate for sauces: For dry cut leaves, bloom in a bit of warm water, broth, or wine for 2–3 minutes before stirring into cream sauces, pan reductions, or vinaigrettes.

Mix into herb blends: Pairs beautifully with chives, parsley, dill, chervil, and thyme. It’s a key element in fines herbes, the classic French blend.

French Tarragon has a tart, licorice-like aroma and distinct appetite-pleasing taste, which has made it a popular herb in French and European cuisine. 

Herbie's Tarragon is of the true French strain and it is grown in New Zealand where it is dehydrated within 40 minutes of being picked.

Health Benefits

French tarragon herb, also known as dragon wort, is a very popular culinary herb used as flavoring agent, especially in Mediterranean cuisines. This aromatic perennial growing herb is rich in phytonutrients as well antioxidants that help promote health and prevent diseases. This exquisite herb is rich in numerous health benefiting phyto-nutrients that are indispensable for optimum health, for example:

The main essential oils in tarragon are estragole (methyl chavicol), cineol, ocimene and phellandrene.

Traditionally, tarragon has been employed as a traditional remedy to stimulate appetite and alleviate anorexic symptoms.

Scientific studies suggest that poly-phenolic compounds in this herb help lower blood-sugar levels.

Fresh tarragon herb is one of the highest antioxidant value food sources among the common herbs. Its total measured ORAC (Oxygen radical absorbance capacity) value is 15,542 trolex equivalents (TE) per 100 g.

Laboratory studies on tarragon extract shows certain compounds in them inhibit platelet activation, preventing platelet aggregation and adhesion to the blood vessel wall. It, thus, helps prevent clot formation inside tiny blood vessels of heart and brain protecting from heart attack, and stroke.

The herb is very rich source of vitamins such as vitamin-C, vitamin-A as well as B-complex group of vitamins such as folates, pyridoxine, niacin, riboflavin, etc., that function as antioxidant as well as co-factors for enzymes in the metabolism.

Tarragon is a notably excellent source of minerals like calcium, manganese, iron, magnesium, copper, potassium, and zinc. Manganese is utilized by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Iron is essential for cellular respiration (co-factors for cytochrome-oxidase enzyme) and blood cell production.