Tea is an Herb Too!

Possibly because it's typically used to make a beverage, but most people forget that, by any definition, tea is an herb. It's the young growing tips of the tea tree, Camellia sinensis that can be used fresh, or dried, or processed in many ways.

Where the different kinds of teas are processed as follows:


White tea: Wilted and unoxidized
Yellow tea: Unwilted and unoxidized, but allowed to yellow
Green tea: Unwilted and unoxidized
Oolong: Wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized
Black tea: Wilted, sometimes crushed, and fully oxidized

In Japan, green tea is finely milled to make matcha, green tea powder, which is not only the tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony, but is also used as an herb to flavour other dishes. In Britain, black tea is often used to flavour and moisten cakes. People forget that tee is often used to cook with.

Indeed, a little tea added to a smoker greatly enhances the flavour of the meat or fish being smoked. It's even very easy to make an indoor smoker for fish or meat strips at home with a wok. Mix sugar and tea leaves together (add hickory or applewood shavings if you like). Line the base of a wok with kitchen foil and sit the smoking mix in a foil cake liner. Sit this in the base of the wok and place a trivet on top. Place over high heat and heat until the smoke appears. Add your meat or fish on the trivet, close with a lid an seal with foil. Smoke for about 20 minutes, or until the meat is cooked.

Below is a classic Japanese recipe for a green tea flavoured cake:

Green Tea Kasutera

Ingredients:

2 tbsp warm milk
1 tbsp matcha (green tea powder)
5 large eggs
150g icing sugar
60ml honey
3/4 tsp baking powder
105g plain flour
icing sugar, for dusting

Method:
Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat until frothy. Gradually work in the icing sugar with a whisk then continue beating until the mixture drops as ribbons from the whisk (about 15 minutes). Mix together the milk and honey (the warm milk will make the honey more liquid) then work this into the egg and sugar blend.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and green tea powder into a bowl. Gently fold this mixture into the egg mix until just combined. Carefully pour the batter into a greased and lined springform cake tin. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the cake has risen, the top is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake emerges cleanly.

Remove from the oven, and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Turn out of the tin and place on a wire rack to col completely. Store in an air-tight tin and serve the following day (the cake will mature over night if stored).

Originally the cake would have been steamed rather than being baked and, indeed, steaming does give a cake that is wonderfully springy and light.

This recipe is reproduced, with permission from the Celtnet Recipes Green Tea Kasutera recipe page. On this site you can find more information about the use of tea as a herb, including a large number of tea-based recipes.

This recipe is brought to you as part of Celtnet's Geographic list of World Herbs and Spices page, which gives a listing of some of the world's most important spices by the region in which they first grew, with links to description pages for each herb and spice and a list of classic recipes using that particular herb or spice.

Musk Mallow Seeds — Re-creating an Ancient Taste

The seeds of the Musk Mallow, (Abelmoschus moschatus) represent an almost completely forgotten spice. The plant itself is an annual or biennial that is closely related to okra (the immature seed pods can be cooked ad eaten like okra). The plant's mature seeds have a deep musky smell, and contain myricetin and macrocyclic lactone compounds and it is these that give them their musky aroma. Indeed, an oil, Ambrette oil is extracted from the seeds and is used commercially in the perfume industry as a substitute for musk.

What is rather less well know is that musk mallow seeds are a spice that lend an unusual, musky, note to foods. In fact, musk was an important flavouring agent all the way through the Medieval, Tudor and Stuart periods and recipes for sweetmeats, preserves and candied fruit would often include a grain or two of musk as a flavouring ingredient. During the 1600s, with increasing trade to India, musk mallow seeds began to find their way into lists of ingredients as a cheaper substitute to musk.

Though not common, they can be purchased as a spice even today. They are great when reconstructing historic recipes as ground musk seeds can be substituted for very expensive musk in recipes, whilst maintaining the aroma profile.

As musk was believed to be an aphrodisiac, a little ground musk seed also makes an excellent addition for desserts and cakes made for Valentine's day.

Below is a version of Crème Brûlée that includes this exotic spice as a flavouring ingredient:

Musky Crème Brûlée

Ingredients:
600ml double cream
5 egg yolks
50g caster sugar
1 tbsp water
2 drops vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground musk mallow seeds
caster sugar (for topping)

Method:
Combine the egg yolks, sugar, cream, musk mallow seed powder and vanilla in a bowl and whisk until combined. Divide the mixture evenly between 6 ramekins and place in a roasting tin. Add boiling water until it comes half way up the sides of the ramekins then place the roasting tin in an oven pre-heated to 170°C and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cream custard has set.

Bring out of the oven, remove the ramekins from the roasting tin and allow to cool to room temperature. When ready to serve sprinkle a level teaspoon of caster sugar evenly over the surface of each ramekin then either place under a hot grill to caramelize or use a blowtorch. Allow to cool for a few minutes so that the sugar forms a hard crust then serve.


This recipe is brought to you in association with the Celtnet Guide to Spices where you can find detailed information on over 80 of the world's common (and not so common) spices, along with recipes showing how each spice can be used in your own cooking.

Sea Spaghetti, The Latest Wild Food Fad

It is often hard to get people to even consider eating seaweed (sea vegetables) despite their health benefits and their traditional use in coastal communities around the globe. However, sea spaghetti (Himanthalia elongata). Despite being a seaweed, it is dried and packaged like spaghetti and can be substituted in any recipe that calls for spaghetti, tagliatelle or spaghetti squash. It is suitable for those who are gluten intolerant and is becoming popular with raw food enthusiasts, as it only needs to be soaked over night (or even, at a pinch, for 30 minutes in warm water) before it is ready to eat.

The recipe below is a classic dish where Sea Spaghetti has been substituted for the more traditional tagliatelle.

Sea Spaghetti Mediterranean Salad Recipe

Ingredients:
50g dried sea spaghetti
8 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 small yellow onion, peeled and diced
75g pitted black olives, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 tbsp olive oil
6 tbsp dry white wine
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves, crumbled
6 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely shredded
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
2 balls of buffalo mozzarella, diced (optional)
torn basil, to garnish

Method:
Rinse the sea spaghetti well, place in a bowl, cover with water then set aside to soak in the refrigerator over night. The following day, rinse the sea spaghetti thoroughly, place in a pan of boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes (this restores the vibrant colour of the seaweed) then drain.

In the meantime, whisk together the olive oil and white wine in a bowl. Add the tomatoes, onion, olives, garlic, oregano and parsley. Toss to coat and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Arrange the sea spaghetti in a serving dish and pour over the dressing. Garnish with the mozzarella and torn basil then serve immediately.

For more information on edible seaweeds and links to descriptions of various edible seaweeds and their recipes see the guide to edible seaweeds (sea vegetables).

This recipe is reproduced, with permission, from the Celtnet Mediterranean Sea Spaghetti Salad recipe page.

On the same site you can find information on over 180 wild foods along with thousands of recipes incorporating them as ingredients on the Celtnet Wild Foods Guide pages.

For all the wild food recipes on this blog, see the wild food recipes page.

The Origins of the English Classic, Herodotus' Pudding.

A Traditional English Pudding

In her book, Modern Cookery for Private Families, published in 1845, Eliza Acton published a recipe for what she termed Herodotus' Pudding. The full recipe is given here, as Eliza Acton wrote it:

HERODOTUS' PUDDING.
(A Genuine Classical Receipt.)
"Prepare and mix in the usual manner one pound of fine raisins stoned, one pound of minced beef-suet, half a pound of bread-crumbs, four figs chopped small, two tablespoonsful of moist sugar (honey, in the original), two wineglassesful of sherry, and the rind of half a large lemon (grated). Boil the pudding for fourteen hours."
Obs.—This receipt is really to be found in Herodotus. The only variations made in it are the substitution of sugar for honey, and sherry for the wine of ancient Greece. We are indebted for it to an accomplished scholar, who has had it served at his own table on more than one occasion; and we have given it on his authority, without testing it: but we venture to suggest that seven hours would boil it sufficiently.

The quotation marks mean that she was given the recipe by someone else and simply gives it verbatim in her book (you can find the full text here: Herodotus' Pudding from Chapter 20, Puddings of Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery).

I scoured my copy of Herodotus' 'Histories' and eventually came upon the right paragraph:

Writing about 325 BCE, the Greek writer, Herodotus, (Ἡρόδοτος Hēródotos) [c. 484 BCE – c. 425 BCE], who has been termed the 'father of history' wrote the folowing in the second book of his 'Histories' when the sacrifice of kine by the Egyptians:

The disembowelling and burning are, however, different in different sacrifices. I will mention the mode in use with respect to the goddess whom they regard as the greatest, and honour with the chiefest festival. When they have flayed their steer they pray, and when their prayer is ended they take the paunch of the animal out entire, leaving the intestines and the fat inside the body; they then cut off the legs, the ends of the loins, the shoulders, and the neck; and having so done, they fill the body of the steer with clean bread, honey, raisins, figs, frankincense, myrrh, and other aromatics. Thus filled, they burn the body, pouring over it great quantities of oil. Before offering the sacrifice they fast, and while the bodies of the victims are being consumed they beat themselves. Afterwards, when they have concluded this part of the ceremony, they have the other parts of the victim served up to them for a repast.

In effect, in the description above the pudding mixture is cooked in the fat of the inside of the animal's stomach and though the Victorian recipe may look very different, in fact it's not that far away.

The recipe next turns up in a recipe from Brasenose College Oxford for a meal in 1846 that were discovered in 1944:

That solid puddings of this kind became a part of everyday College fare is suggested by the survival of just one Brasenose recipe, from 1846, for 'Herodotus Pudding'. The ingredients were to be mixed well together, put into a mould or basin and boiled for seven hours:

Recipe
250g/2 cups suet
250g/2 cups raisins
125g/2 cups fine breadcrumbs
125g/1 cup sugar
4 fi gs, chopped
Grated rind of one lemon
2 teaspoons ground allspice
4 tablespoons of brandy
2 eggs

Method
Mix the ingredients together, put them in the pudding basin, tie a greaseproof paper circle over the top of the basin and steam for five hours.

You can find more about this here.

This is very similar to Eliza Acton's recipe, except that eggs are added to help bind the mixture and allspice is used as a flavouring.

In 1861, Mrs Beeton, in her Book of Household Management, publishes her own version of Herodotus' Pudding:

HERODOTUS PUDDING.
1287. INGREDIENTS.—1/2 lb. of bread crumbs, 1/2 lb. of good figs, 6 oz. of suet, 6 oz. of moist sugar, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, 3 eggs, nutmeg to taste.
Mode.—Mince the suet and figs very finely; add the remaining ingredients, taking care that the eggs are well whisked; beat the mixture for a few minutes, put it into a buttered mould, tie it down with a floured cloth, and boil the pudding for 5 hours. Serve with wine sauce.
Time.—5 hours.
Average cost, 10d. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable at any time.

The recipe is much better presented, but the raisins of the original have been omitted, there is no mention that it is based on a recipe published by Eliza Acton and there is no mention that Herodotus is the ultimate source. So the recipe now is devoid of its context. You can see Mrs Beeton's version of this recipe at: (Mrs Beeton's Recipe for Herodotus pudding from Chapter 27, Pudding and Pastry Recipes, Book of Household Management). Again, eggs are used as a binding agent and the amouont of suet has been reduced and nutmeg is used as a flavouring.

An adaptation of this version appears in a 1947 in a book called 'Good Puddings and Pies'. Again this is essentially a copy of Mrs Beeton's recipe (figs but no raisins). However, this is so distant from Eliza Acton's original that the author no longer has any idea that it originates from Herodotus' Writintgs:


HERODOTUS PUDDING
Mix together half a pound of suet, a quarter of a pound of breadcrumbs, a quarter of an ounce of allspice, one egg, the grated rind of half a lemon, a glass of sherry, and five figs chopped very finely. Beat all together until quite smooth, put into a greased mould, and boil for six or seven hours. Serve with a Wine Sauce (page 86). But why Herodotus?

So, Herodotus' pudding has been published for almost a century. I am therefore in very good company in publishing my own adaptation of this classic recipe here that sticks a little bit more true to both Herodotus' and Eliza Acton's writings.

At least, I have published all the sources and given a history of the evolution and adaptation of the pudding!

Herodotus' Pudding

Ingredients:
225g seedless raisins
200g shredded suet (beef is best)
120g fine breadcrumbs
3 dried figs, finely chopped
2 tbsp runny honey
70ml dry sherry
1 egg, beaten
finely-grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Method:
Combine the fruit, suet, breadcrumbs, lemon zest and spices in a bowl. Mix thoroughly together then add the sherry, beaten egg and honey. Mix thoroughly until all the ingredients have been well moistened then turn the pudding mixture into a pudding bowl or basin.

Cover with a lid or tie securely on a sheet of greaseproof (waxed) paper (fold a pleat in this to allow for expansion. Cover the pudding basin with a double layer of foil (again fold a pleat in this to allow for expansion) then tie string secruely around the rim of the bowl and use a loop of this string to form a handle.

Sit the pudding on a trivet or an upturned plate in a deep pan. Pour in boiling water to come 3/4 of the way up the sides of the pudding bowl. Place on the heat and bring to a bowl. Cover with a lid and boil for five and a half hours (top up the water as needed and ensure that the pudding does not boil dry).

To be true to the Victorian origins of this pudding serve it with a sweet wine sauce. Of course, custard also works well.


I hope you enjoyed this little article about a classic English pudding and that the question of Why Herodotus? has how been answered.

You can also find this pudding at its home on the Celtnet Recipes site: Herodotus' Pudding Modern Recipe, where modern versions of Eliza Acton's Herodotus' Pudding and Mrs Beeton's Herodotus' Pudding are also available.

Eliza Acton, The First Domestic Goddess

Eliza Acton, The First Domestic Goddess


I will admit, that if I have a cookery heroine, it is Hannah Glasse, who wrote and cooked during the middle of the 18th Century and had her volume, The Art of Cookery published in 1747. But next on that list has to be Eliza Acton, who wrote her Modern Cookery in 1845.

Acton's book was the model on which later writers (most notably Mrs Beeton and Francatelli) based their cookery books (indeed 150 of Acton's recipes find their way into Beeton's book).

Eliza Acton was one of the first modern writers to direct her recipes at the ordinary family (by which read the servants of middle class and lower middle class families) rather than at professional chefs.

But what makes her book stand out is the readability of the prose and that the list of ingredients and cookig times are separated out of the main text and presented at the end of the recipe. She created the template for the way that modern recipes are presented.

Of course, not all the recipes are hers, she gathered them from friends and acquaintances and presented these in her books as well. But what comes out of the writing and the presentation is that she actually tested and tasted all these recipes and she comments on which ones she particularly thinks are good, expressing this in brackets next to the recipe itself. All in a very understated and English way, of course.

Her book remained in print until 1915 and there are now new faximile editions available as well. But what I cannot unserstand is why this remarkable cookery writer is not so well know. Most people have heard of Mrs Beeton, but few have heard of Eliza Acton.

She was born on the 17th of April, 1799 in Battle, Sussex. She was the eldes of the five children of Elizabeth Mercer and John Acton. She always seemed determined to make her own way in the world and at the age of seventeen, she and a friend opened a school for girls in Claydon, near Ipswich which remained open for four years. Her health was always precarious, and it seems that at the school's closure she travelled to France. She may have travelled for her health and there may have been an unhappy love-affair when she was in France (which is hinted at in her poetry).

What she certainly did was to fall in love with French foods and French food preparation methods. In 1826 she published her volume of poetry, entitled Poems. But Longman, her publisher rejected her second volume of poetry and suggested she try something else, perhaps a cookery book. Eliza seems to have taken the advice to heart and she spent over a decade testing and improving recipes. This led to her Modern Cookery, published in 1845. This was so successful, that a second edition was published that same year, as well as an ammended volume for the American market.

There are many who claim that this is the best cookery book in the English language. It is certainly a seminal volume, and all the other contenders to the title, Mrs Beeton, Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson, Delia Smith and Nigella Lawson all owe a debt (which most of them acknowledge) to Eliza Acton.

I have a rather precious copy of th 1865 edition in my collection. But what I find truly astonishing is that the text is not available on the web (there is a poorly scanned PDF in Google Books). So, I have decided, as part of my site, Celtnet Recipes' aim to put historic and ancient cookery texts on the web, to add Eliza Acton's volume to the texts already on the site.

Currently you can read a brief Biography of Eliza Acton, and the work to digitize the text has begun. You can find the text of Modern Cookery, with everything uploaded so far at: Text of Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery.

Below is an example recipe from Eliza Acton's book, with a modern redaction.


COCOA-NUT GINGERBREAD
(Original Receipts.)

     Mix well together ten ounces of fine wheaten flour, and six of flour of rice (or rice ground to powder), the grated rind of a lemon, and three-quarters of an ounce of ginger : pour nearly boiling upon these a pound of treacle, five ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar, melted together in a saucepan; beat the mixture, which will be almost a batter, with a wooden spoon, and when quite smooth leave it until its is perfectly cold, then add to it five ounces of grated cocoa-nut, and when it is thoroughly blended with the other ingredients, lay the paste in small heaps upon a buttered tin, and bake them in a very slow oven from half to three-quarters of an hour.
     Flour, 10 oz.; ground rice, 6 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; ginger, 3/4 oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 oz.; butter, 5 oz.; cocoa-nut, 5 oz. : 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
     Or: Flour, 1/2 lb.; ground rice, 1/2 lb.; ginger, 3/4 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; butter, 5 oz,; sugar, 5 oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; cocoa-nut 6 1/2 oz.
     Obs.—The cakes made by them are excellent.

Modern Redaction:

300g plain flour
180g rice flour
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon
25g ground ginger
500ml treacle (molasses)
150g sugar
150g butter
150g freshly-grated coconut

Mix together the flours, lemon zest and ground ginger in a heat-proof bowl.

Combine the treacle, sugar and butter in a saucepan. Heat gently until the ingredients have melted and combined then increase the heat slightly and bring almost to the boil.

Take off the heat them pour over the dry ingredients. Beat well with a wooden spoon unil completely combined and smooth. Set aside to cool completely then work in the grated coconut.

Line a baking tray with greaseproof (waxed) paper and drop the batter by the heaped tablespoons onto it, mounding then slightly (allow room to spread whilst cooking).

Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 160°C and bake for about 40 minutes, or unti done through. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.


I hope you enjoyed this recipe. You can learn more about Eliza Acton on the Celtnet Recipes aite, as well as seeing more of her recipes (in original as well as redacted form on the Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery pages.

Foraging for a Wild Greens Gratin

Gratin of Wild Greens


Sunday was one of those wonderfully crisp, chilly, winter mornings that you only get after a hard frost.

December and early Januray have been so mild that many early spring plants are out and even starting to flower. But the frost of the past few days means that they will not last over-long. The weather was so beautiful that I decided to charge-up my camera and go on a bit of a forage.

I ended up with common hogweed shoots (they really would not survive the frost, so I had no qualms in harvesting), some rapeseed greens (I only took a few leaves, as the plant is hardy and would survive), bittercress leaves (typically the only guaranteed winter green) that would act as a seasoning and some very early nettle tops. Enough to fill a small baking dish and to give me my first wild-sourced dish of 2012.


Gratin of Wild Greens Recipe

Ingredients:
200g common hogweed shoots
200ml nettle tops
200ml rapeseed greens
4 tbsp bittercress leaves
1 small onion, sliced
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp plain flour
200ml milk
60g Cheddar cheese, grated
150g breadcrumbs
60g Cheddar cheese, grated

Method:
Bring a pan of lightly-salted water to a boil, add the hogweed shoots (trim the leaves and wash first). Blanch for 2 minutes then remove with a slottes spoon and set aside to drain.

Add the nettle tops to the pan, blanch for 2 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon, drain, chop and set aside.

Add the rapeseed greens to the same pan, blanch for 2 minutes then drain and set aside.

Personally, I do not mind the bitter flavour of the bittercresses, but if you would like to lessen this taste in them, trim the leaves neatly, blanch these for 2 minutes as well then drain.

Add a layer of onion to your baking dish then place half the blanched rapeseed greens on top. Layer in the common hogweed shoots then add a layer of onions and another layer of rapeseed greens.

In the meantime, make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a pan. When foaming, scatter over the plain flour and work in to form a roux. Cook gently for 1 minute, stirring constantly, then whisk in the milk until smooth. Bring to a simmer then stir in the 60g Cheddar cheese until melted. Take off the heat then stir in the chopped nettle greens and chopped bittercress leaves. Pour into the gratin dish and allow to settle.

Mix the breadcrumbs and remaining cheese then use this to top the dish. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200°C and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the dish is piping hot and the top is golden brown.

I served this with a mash of Jerusalem artichokes (from the garden), mixed with carrots and parsnips.

This is a rich, warming dish, ideal for winter.

For all the wild food recipes on this blog, see the wild food recipes page.

Sorting Tarragons as Herbs

Information on the Various Tarragons


Culinarily, there are two main types of tarragon, French Tarragon and Russian Tarragon. They are both actually cultivars of the same species, Artemisia dracunculus and are members of the Asteraceae (daisy) family of flowering plants.

French Tarragon is sweet and aromatic, reminiscent to fennel, anise and licorice. In contrast, Russian Tarragon, is not at all fragrant and tastes slightly bitter.

Russian tarragon is closer to the wild form of the plant (originating in Central Asia) and though many recipes state that it can be substituted for French tarragon, this is not really true. Russian tarragon is not really culinarily worthwhile. The only reason it is cultivated is that it is frost resistant and can withstand northern European winters to grow the following spring.

In the development of French tarragon, though the plant's aromatic qualities were much improved, it also became much less hardy. Anwyere there are low winter temperatures, it can only be grown as an annual (unless it is brought indoors or grown under glass). However, I have found that if you take root cuttings, plant these before the first frosts and bring them into the house, they will give you a supply of new plants to place in your garden for the following spring.

If you are looking at tarragon flavour, then an excellent substitute is Mexican Tarragon (also known as Winter Tarragon). This is not acutally a tarragon at all, as the species is Tagetes lucida which is actually a marigold, belogning to the Asteracea (aster/daisy) family. The plant is native to Mexico and the southern USA though it can be obtained as seed from many specialist nurseries. The plant is a half-hardy semi-woody sub-shrub that looks like a spindly marigold (growing to some 50cm) with small brightly-coloured flowers and elongated (often variegated) opposed leaves.

The flavour profile of the leaves is almost exactly the same as those of French tarragon, though stronger and Mexican Tarragon makes an excellent substitute for French tarragon in any recipe (though you should halve the quantities).

Typically tarragon is used for flavouring vinegars and sauces such as Hollandaise and Bechamel. But the mild aniseedy flavour of this herb makes it an excellent addition to fish dishes, chicken dishes (it goes particularly well in stuffings) and even tomato-based stews and sauces.

Below is a classic bean soup recipe using winter tarragon as a flavouring (though it works just as well with French tarragon).


Haricot Bean and Mexican Tarragon Soup

Ingredients:
250g white haricot beans
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 small fennel bulb, diced
2 tbsp freshly-grated lemon zest
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.6l chicken stock (or strong vegetable stock)
1 tbsp fresh Mexican tarragon (Winter tarragon) leaves, finely chopped (or substitute twice the amount of French Tarragon)
3 tbsp thinly-sliced ham, cut into julienne strips
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Method:
Pick over the beans, place in a large bowl then cover with plenty of water and set aside to soak over night.

The following day, drain off all the water and set the beans aside. Add the oil to a large pan over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and fennel. Fry for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown then stir in the lemon zest and garlic. Fry for 1 minute more then stir in the stock.

Add the drained beans then bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover the pot and cook gently for about 60 minutes, or until the beans are tender. Uncover the pot then stir in the winter tarragon leaves (reserve 1/2 tsp for garnish). Now add the ham then adjust the seasonings to taste.

Divide the soup between four warmed soup bowls, garnish with the reserved tarragon leaves and serve immediately.


Notice, in the recipe above, how the tarragon is added towards the very end of the cooking time. This is because the compound that give tarragon its distinctive taste and aroma are very volatile, they disappear quickly if the herbs is over cooked. Tarragon also displays the same problem if it is dried and the dried herb has little of the flavour of the fresh. This is the same problem as encountered with many herbs (except, notably, for celery leaves).


For more information on tarragons, please visit the following pages:


Gernot Katzer's tarragon information page

and as part of the Celtnet Guide to Herbs:
Celtnet Herb Guide Tarragon Page
Celtnet Herb Guide Mexican Tarragon page