Tarragon substitute

[storm]

My mother arrives Friday, May 26. I had planned on a scallop & tarragon salad, only to discover my mother dislikes tarragon. Rather than change the whole menu, what herb would be a good substitute.

 

[nicko]

Why not basil? It is a fresh tasting herb that would compliment the scallops very well. You could also try dill.

 

[pete]

Try chervil maybe. It has a very light, delicate flavor resmebling tarragon, but it is not overpowering. Or try sorrel maybe. It has a great tart lemony flavor to it. It is one of my favorite herbs to work with in the summer.

 

[Kelly K.]

Why not basil? It is a fresh tasting herb that would compliment the scallops very well. You could also try dill.

How about any of the following:

• Chervil. Sometimes called French parsley or garden chervil, is a delicate annual herb related to parsley and can be found either fresh or dry. Basil leaves. Basil also called great basil or Saint-Joseph’s-wort, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints).
• Fennel Seed. Fennel is a flowering plant and is in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. Fennel seed has a much stronger flavor than tarragon so be sure to use just a pinch of for each tablespoon of tarragon that’s required.
• Anise Seed. Anise seed is a flowering plant native to Southwest Asia. Its flavor has similarities with some other spices, such as star anise, fennel, and licorice. Like fennel seed has Anise seed has a much stronger flavor than tarragon so be sure to use just a pinch of for each tablespoon of tarragon that’s required.
• Fennel Fronds. While fennel fronds look like a feather-topped cousin to celery, its flavor is very different. The white bulb and bright green fronds have a gentle, slightly sweet anise-like flavor and are easy to spot in the produce section.

 

[someday]

How about any of the following:

• Chervil. Sometimes called French parsley or garden chervil, is a delicate annual herb related to parsley and can be found either fresh or dry. Basil leaves. Basil also called great basil or Saint-Joseph’s-wort, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints).
• Fennel Seed. Fennel is a flowering plant and is in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. Fennel seed has a much stronger flavor than tarragon so be sure to use just a pinch of for each tablespoon of tarragon that’s required.
• Anise Seed. Anise seed is a flowering plant native to Southwest Asia. Its flavor has similarities with some other spices, such as star anise, fennel, and licorice. Like fennel seed has Anise seed has a much stronger flavor than tarragon so be sure to use just a pinch of for each tablespoon of tarragon that’s required.
• Fennel Fronds. While fennel fronds look like a feather-topped cousin to celery, its flavor is very different. The white bulb and bright green fronds have a gentle, slightly sweet anise-like flavor and are easy to spot in the produce section.

Excellent! Very timely advice.

Also, if the woman doesn't like tarragon (assuming she's still alive) why would we suggest herbs that taste similar to tarragon? This thread is old enough to vote, btw.

 

[eastshores]

I suppose Cheftalk should lock old threads but it's good that people find them while out googling around since they probably wouldn't find cheftalk otherwise. Old enough to vote

 

[someday]

I've suggested that many, many times over the years and it seems to fall on deaf ears. Either the traffic is not heavy enough to warrant serious moderating in this specific capacity, it's not technologically doable, or they don't care.

I think it would be great if the archives stayed searchable so the info isn't lost, but grave-digging 18 year old threads is silly and it happens too often for me not to have a slight issue with it.

But seriously, this thread is old enough to be starting college in a couple months.

 

[french fries]

grave-digging 18 year old threads is silly

IMO a forum is more than a bunch of discussions between a few people. It's catalogued information that is searchable and useful to MANY more than just the people who participate in the discussion. In that sense it almost has a role like a wiki encyclopedia. Everyone can participate and add more information to a thread. And there's nothing wrong with adding more useful information 18 years after a thread was originally created. Why should we prevent that from happening? It's not like the information is useful only to the person who started that thread 18 years ago.

 

[brianshaw]

I didn't see this thread 18 years ago... so I appreciate the updated information. A couple of years ago I dug the tarragon out of my garden because it was spreading rampantly, so I sometimes have a need for a tarragon substitute.

 

[someday]

IMO a forum is more than a bunch of discussions between a few people. It's catalogued information that is searchable and useful to MANY more than just the people who participate in the discussion. In that sense it almost has a role like a wiki encyclopedia. Everyone can participate and add more information to a thread. And there's nothing wrong with adding more useful information 18 years after a thread was originally created. Why should we prevent that from happening? It's not like the information is useful only to the person who started that thread 18 years ago.

I disagree...I think the discussion is the most important part of a forum. The back and forth, give and take is what makes this place interesting to me. You can't have that if the OP has (I presume) moved on almost 20 years ago.

We don't need it to have a role like a wiki encyclopedia because the sum total of all human knowledge is available in our pockets 24/7. We can google anything we want. We can wiki anything we want. The chances of the OP seeing this thread again are virtually nothing. And the chance that it will help is even slimmer.

I dunno, maybe I'm in the minority. Doesn't seem like it's going to change anytime soon

 

[butzy]

On another forum I frequent, a warning comes up if you are replying to an old thread. You still can, but you have to click some other boxes.
I like that idea, 'cause some projects take time and you can bring it back up, whereas you also know it's an old thread you are responding to

 

[french fries]

We can google anything we want. We can wiki anything we want. The chances of the OP seeing this thread again are virtually nothing. And the chance that it will help is even slimmer.

It's no longer about the OP. It's exactly as you said: everyone can google anything, and for many, googling will land them on Cheftalk. And for the ones googling "Tarragon substitute" and landing on this thread, do you think they'd rather have only 2 answers from 18 years ago? Or 3 answers, 2 of them from 18 years ago and one from this year? Do they even care about the dates??

 

[flipflopgirl]

Try chervil maybe. It has a very light, delicate flavor resmebling tarragon, but it is not overpowering. Or try sorrel maybe. It has a great tart lemony flavor to it. It is one of my favorite herbs to work with in the summer.

I vote sorrel...
Don't be stingy with the pepper either.

mimi

 

[flipflopgirl]

I stand firm against locking the older threads.
Good kitchen advice never goes out of fashion.
If that were so, Joy would be absent from everyone's cookbook collection.
Just sayin'.

mimi

 

[brianshaw]

I need to get a copy of that...

 

[eastshores]

If that were so, Joy would be absent from everyone's cookbook collection.

My first GF gave me that book around the time that this thread was originally posted