Can't wait to try this recipe! Since I'm in the midst of planning which herbs to grow this year the information on French tarragon is much appreciated. Wonderful article and recipe.
I love cilantro, which is essential in all of the Mexican cooking I do. The whole and crushed seed of the plant is what I call coriander. When we lived in DC, I noticed a similarity in the aromatic overtones of some particularly pungent cilantro with an inadvertently crushed insect pest: the brown marmorated stink bug – Halyomorpha halys. Turns out the stink bug share some chemical similarities with cilantro, and apparently with bedbugs, which I have been fortunate never to encounter. The noxious qualities of some substances when concentrated, can occasionally be enjoyed in small doses: eg. a slight waft of skunk musk can be intriguing, where a big dose would be repulsive. Marmorated stink bugs have yet to migrate to Maine.
I'm right with you about cilantro which I hadn't met raw (though the UK's national cuisine of my youth - anything Bangladeshi/Pakistani/Indian was packed with it as sauces) until I went to Moscow. I loved your info about the stink bug connection! And agree with you on modest wafts of smell. I'm a big fan of the smell of skunk cabbage in moderation - maybe close to your skunk musk?
I think the remember Bruno’s musings about the French tarragon being the only choice. Yes, to the symbolism about the difference.
I’ve never liked tarragon precisely because of its tongue-numbing sensation! Quite possibly I’ve never had the fresh French version. I’ll have to pursue finding the real thing because your recipe looks delicious.
TOT I read an article about things you shouldn’t have in your kitchen and aluminum foil was on his list. Seems when tightly covering our innocent casseroles as they bake, we are creating an ideal environment for the nasty stuff in aluminum to steam/leavh into our food!!! I ditched aluminum pans years ago; use parchment as a barrier on half-sheet pans and apparently, meanwhile, compartmentalised using foil lids on casseroles as not being a bad thing!!! I’m experimenting using a stainless dome lid over my 8x12 dishes or using parchment on top before using foil. I’m thinking at 75+ maybe it won’t make any difference! Just another trifling to divert from the current craziness in our world. Thanks for the lovely read.
If the tarragon you ate was tongue numbing, then you've had the proper variety. As to foil, like you, if I use it, it's as an anchor for keeping parchment paper in place. Sounds like you have the use of a very useful pan lid. 75+? You have years still for adventuring !
Can't wait to try this recipe! Since I'm in the midst of planning which herbs to grow this year the information on French tarragon is much appreciated. Wonderful article and recipe.
So glad I caught you before you bought into the Russian version....
I never knew all that about herbs. Fascinating!
I love cilantro, which is essential in all of the Mexican cooking I do. The whole and crushed seed of the plant is what I call coriander. When we lived in DC, I noticed a similarity in the aromatic overtones of some particularly pungent cilantro with an inadvertently crushed insect pest: the brown marmorated stink bug – Halyomorpha halys. Turns out the stink bug share some chemical similarities with cilantro, and apparently with bedbugs, which I have been fortunate never to encounter. The noxious qualities of some substances when concentrated, can occasionally be enjoyed in small doses: eg. a slight waft of skunk musk can be intriguing, where a big dose would be repulsive. Marmorated stink bugs have yet to migrate to Maine.
I'm right with you about cilantro which I hadn't met raw (though the UK's national cuisine of my youth - anything Bangladeshi/Pakistani/Indian was packed with it as sauces) until I went to Moscow. I loved your info about the stink bug connection! And agree with you on modest wafts of smell. I'm a big fan of the smell of skunk cabbage in moderation - maybe close to your skunk musk?
I think the remember Bruno’s musings about the French tarragon being the only choice. Yes, to the symbolism about the difference.
I’ve never liked tarragon precisely because of its tongue-numbing sensation! Quite possibly I’ve never had the fresh French version. I’ll have to pursue finding the real thing because your recipe looks delicious.
TOT I read an article about things you shouldn’t have in your kitchen and aluminum foil was on his list. Seems when tightly covering our innocent casseroles as they bake, we are creating an ideal environment for the nasty stuff in aluminum to steam/leavh into our food!!! I ditched aluminum pans years ago; use parchment as a barrier on half-sheet pans and apparently, meanwhile, compartmentalised using foil lids on casseroles as not being a bad thing!!! I’m experimenting using a stainless dome lid over my 8x12 dishes or using parchment on top before using foil. I’m thinking at 75+ maybe it won’t make any difference! Just another trifling to divert from the current craziness in our world. Thanks for the lovely read.
If the tarragon you ate was tongue numbing, then you've had the proper variety. As to foil, like you, if I use it, it's as an anchor for keeping parchment paper in place. Sounds like you have the use of a very useful pan lid. 75+? You have years still for adventuring !