Tarragon

Tarragon is a perennial in the aster family, which puts it in an entirely different botanical family from most of the other herbs on this site - it isn't a mint-family plant at all, despite a growth habit that superficially resembles one. The variety that matters most to cooks is French tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa), prized for its distinctive anise-like flavor.

Why French Tarragon Can't Be Grown From Seed

French tarragon is a sterile cultivar - it essentially doesn't produce viable seed, a genuine botanical quirk rather than a marketing detail. Every French tarragon plant sold is propagated by division or cuttings from an existing plant, which is also why French tarragon seed doesn't exist as a legitimate product; any "tarragon seed" for sale is Russian tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus var. dracunculus), a different, fertile variety with a noticeably milder, less complex flavor that experienced cooks generally consider an inferior substitute.

Telling the Two Apart Before You Buy

Because both are sold simply as "tarragon" and look broadly similar, the seed-vs-cutting distinction is the most reliable way to know which one you're getting - if it's started from seed, it's Russian tarragon, not French. Crushing a leaf and smelling for a clear anise or licorice note is the other practical test; Russian tarragon's scent is faint by comparison.

A Perennial That Needs a Real Winter Rest

Tarragon dies back to the ground each winter and needs that cold dormancy period to perform well the following season - in very mild, frost-free climates it can struggle over time from never getting a proper rest, which is somewhat unusual among the Mediterranean-leaning herbs on this site, most of which simply want to avoid hard freezes rather than needing one.

One of the Four Classic Fines Herbes

French tarragon holds a specific, structural place in classic French cooking as one of the four traditional fines herbes, alongside chives, parsley, and chervil - a defined blend used to finish dishes rather than cook into them from the start, since heat dulls tarragon's more delicate anise notes. It's also the defining flavor in béarnaise sauce, where it's infused into a vinegar reduction before being whisked into the emulsified butter and egg base; substituting Russian tarragon in a recipe built around béarnaise produces a noticeably flatter sauce, which is part of why professional kitchens are strict about sourcing the French variety specifically.

Drying Tarragon Loses More Flavor Than Most Herbs

Tarragon's anise flavor comes largely from estragole, a volatile compound that degrades faster in drying and storage than the oils in tougher, more resinous herbs like rosemary or thyme - dried tarragon on a spice-rack shelf for more than a few months is often noticeably weaker than freshly dried leaf, which is why cooks who rely on it heavily tend to freeze fresh sprigs in oil or butter instead of drying, preserving more of the actual flavor through winter.

Companions: A Single Documented Pairing

Tarragon's most cited companion pairing is with eggplant, on the standard scent-masking reasoning applied to strongly aromatic herbs generally - traditional practice, not something tested specifically for this combination. Tarragon doesn't appear as often in companion-planting guides as the mint-family herbs do, likely because its more restrained, less overpowering scent gives it a weaker basis for the scent-masking claims that drive most herb companion folklore.