The French know their way around a herb garden, that’s for sure. And tarragon is one of their favourite picks. With a hint of anise, you’ll find tarragon used extensively in French cooking, from sauces to casseroles, soups to stews.
In English, tarragon is also known as little dragon. Its botanical name is Artemisia dracunculus, so we can see why it lends itself to that. Tarragon also sounds a bit like dragon if you say it quickly. But while dragons are known for breathing fire, tarragon is known for cooling it – speaking from a digestive point of view. Mother Nature really knows how to take care of us, as the herbs and spices we use to flavour our food are also awesome in their own individual ways for helping our bodies to make the most of that food at the same time.
Steam-distilled from the leaves of the herbaceous tarragon plant that flourishes throughout Europe and other parts of the world, essential oil of tarragon is much more potent than the dried herb. Essential oils capture the lifeblood of the plant whereas the dried herbs don’t have that same vibrant oil content that’s filled with vitality.
Tarragon is from the Asteraceae botanical family, which also includes a long list of other healthful beauties: davana, German chamomile, goldenrod, helichrysum, Idaho tansy, mugwort, Roman chamomile and yarrow.
Top quality, genuinely-pure tarragon essential oil is very high in Methyl chavicol (Estragole) at 68-80%, so it does require some extra caution. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, please consult a health professional prior to use. Essential oil of tarragon also includes in its key constituents trans-beta-ocimene, cis-beta-ocimene and limonene.
Essential oils are potent, so as always, please follow directions on the bottle and the usual guidelines for safe use of authentic essential oils.
Aromatically, inhaling tarragon is soothing, uplifting and settling. You can diffuse it for up to 30 minutes at a time (check out our tips for diffusing here) or inhale it directly from the bottle. It plays very nicely with lemon, lavender and peppermint oils when diffusing, too.
You can apply tarragon essential oil topically, with suggested dilution at one part tarragon oil to one part pure carrier oil such as Young Living V-6 Enhanced Vegetable Complex, olive or sweet almond oil. Try stroking a little diluted tarragon essential oil along your shins (follow the usual safety guidelines) for a restorative afternoon pick-me-up.
Young Living Tarragon is of impeccable quality and it’s appropriate for adding to food and drink. Please remember to only ever ingest essential oils when the label on the bottle clearly states you can do so, and follow the directions sensibly. When you spot tarragon in a recipe, try substituting it with Young Living Tarragon essential oil. Do remember it’s extremely concentrated, so just one drop will go a very long way. Some people like to dip a toothpick into the oil bottle and stir that through so they can more easily control the taste adjustments and be sure they aren’t adding too much too quickly.
It’s best to avoid adding oils to very high heat lest you fracture the delicate molecules and damage some of their precious constituents. So a great way to add oils is at the very end of your cooking once you’ve removed the dish from high heat. When you’re preparing something that doesn’t involve high heat, such as dressings and sauces, add the essential oil to other liquids any time in the process that makes sense to you. You could get very adventurous with a touch of tarragon: herbaceous cakes, ice-creams and sorbets make a very refreshing change.
Please ensure you are choosing a brand with complete transparency from seed to seal, such as Young Living. You can learn in this short video why we only ever recommend and choose Young Living oils and love them so much!
This will also connect you up with The Good Oil Team for our personal support and coaching. We'd love to help you on your journey to vibrant well-being the natural way!
Any questions? Please get in touch via our Contact page.
