Herbal Syrup: Tarragon
One day recently I was looking up something, I don't even remember what it was, but I came across this website, and it went a long way toward making me want to do this article (and I will be doing others along this line very soon): https://thecocktailnovice.com/
I use lots of herbs and I grow several herbs on my window ledge. Remember, this is NOT a drink in itself, but rather a syrup used to make other drinks; so don't think, "Wow, he's got too much sugar in this." It is supposed to be super sweet, because it will be diluted with other ingredients in various drinks, which don't necessarily have to be drinks with alcohol (hic... I'm saying YOUR drinks don't necessarily have to have alcohol... hahaha!). The basic business of Coke and Pepsi is to sell syrups to bottling companies all over the world, and these bottling companies mix the syrups with carbonated water to make the colas we consumers buy in bottles, cans and disposable cups. Another term to go with syrups is "concentrates," because they are concentrated flavors that are made into beverages by the addition of carbonated water. This syrup has a light green tint and has the superb taste of sweetness accompanied by the anise flavor of the tarragon. The photo below is of a great refreshing drink of some tarragon syrup, a squeeze of lime juice and some club soda.
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh water
1/3 cup fresh tarragon leaves
1 cup sugar
Bring the water to a boil in a pan. Add the tarragon leaves and reduce the heat to maintain a light simmer. Simmer the leaves for 3 or 4 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the sugar and make sure the sugar is dissolved. Let the leaves steep until the liquid cools. Pour the liquid through a sieve into a small pitcher or a jar to remove the leaves. Cover or put on a lid and refrigerate.
WORD HISTORY:
Dragon/Drake (Tarragon)-The origin of "dragon" "seems" to go back to Indo European "derk/drak," which had the notion of "to see, to look." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek some words associated with "see, look, glance, stare," especially "drakein," with those general meanings, which spawned the transliterated noun "drakon," with the initial meaning of, "serpent, snake," but later, "a large snake," with that meaning bringing about tales of creatures with wings and the ability to breathe fire, and it was used as a word for a monster, including for a sea monster (perhaps from the overall notion of, "a beast or creature with a piercing look or stare," as representations of dragons have long depicted their fierce gaze as a distinguishing characteristic)^. Latin borrowed the word as "draco," which was borrowed by Old Germanic as "drako," and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "draca," meaning, "large serpent, often, but not always, of the sea." This then became "drake" (second half of the 1100s?).^^ Meanwhile, Latin "draco" passed to Latin-based Old French as "dragon," and the Normans carried this to England, where it seems to have been altered to "dragoun," and where it was borrowed by English as such circa 1250. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German "Drache," Low German "Draak," West Frisian "draak," Dutch "draak," Icelandic "dreki," Danish "drage," Norwegian "drage" and "drake," Swedish "drake." Tarragon is a word derived from "dragon," as this plant has long been called "dragonwort." This all began with transliterated Greek "drakóntion," as a word for the plant, a word borrowed by Arabic as transliterated "tarkhun/tarkhon," then borrowed by Medieval Latin as "tragonia." English borrowed the word in the mid 1500s, "apparently" from the Latin form, although it's possible it may have come from French "targon" (itself from the Latin form), with reinforcement by Latin.
^ The Romans used the representation of such a creature on their military banners, likely taken from their military adventures in the area of the Nile River, famous to this day for its crocodiles; thus, a kind of "dragon." Later the term was used by some in Christianity as a word for Satan, likely from the evil look of caricatures of dragons.
^^ This form of "drake" is unrelated to the word of the same spelling meaning "a male duck," although the two words seemed to have been mixed during the Middle Ages.
I use lots of herbs and I grow several herbs on my window ledge. Remember, this is NOT a drink in itself, but rather a syrup used to make other drinks; so don't think, "Wow, he's got too much sugar in this." It is supposed to be super sweet, because it will be diluted with other ingredients in various drinks, which don't necessarily have to be drinks with alcohol (hic... I'm saying YOUR drinks don't necessarily have to have alcohol... hahaha!). The basic business of Coke and Pepsi is to sell syrups to bottling companies all over the world, and these bottling companies mix the syrups with carbonated water to make the colas we consumers buy in bottles, cans and disposable cups. Another term to go with syrups is "concentrates," because they are concentrated flavors that are made into beverages by the addition of carbonated water. This syrup has a light green tint and has the superb taste of sweetness accompanied by the anise flavor of the tarragon. The photo below is of a great refreshing drink of some tarragon syrup, a squeeze of lime juice and some club soda.
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh water
1/3 cup fresh tarragon leaves
1 cup sugar
Bring the water to a boil in a pan. Add the tarragon leaves and reduce the heat to maintain a light simmer. Simmer the leaves for 3 or 4 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the sugar and make sure the sugar is dissolved. Let the leaves steep until the liquid cools. Pour the liquid through a sieve into a small pitcher or a jar to remove the leaves. Cover or put on a lid and refrigerate.
Dragon/Drake (Tarragon)-The origin of "dragon" "seems" to go back to Indo European "derk/drak," which had the notion of "to see, to look." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek some words associated with "see, look, glance, stare," especially "drakein," with those general meanings, which spawned the transliterated noun "drakon," with the initial meaning of, "serpent, snake," but later, "a large snake," with that meaning bringing about tales of creatures with wings and the ability to breathe fire, and it was used as a word for a monster, including for a sea monster (perhaps from the overall notion of, "a beast or creature with a piercing look or stare," as representations of dragons have long depicted their fierce gaze as a distinguishing characteristic)^. Latin borrowed the word as "draco," which was borrowed by Old Germanic as "drako," and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "draca," meaning, "large serpent, often, but not always, of the sea." This then became "drake" (second half of the 1100s?).^^ Meanwhile, Latin "draco" passed to Latin-based Old French as "dragon," and the Normans carried this to England, where it seems to have been altered to "dragoun," and where it was borrowed by English as such circa 1250. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German "Drache," Low German "Draak," West Frisian "draak," Dutch "draak," Icelandic "dreki," Danish "drage," Norwegian "drage" and "drake," Swedish "drake." Tarragon is a word derived from "dragon," as this plant has long been called "dragonwort." This all began with transliterated Greek "drakóntion," as a word for the plant, a word borrowed by Arabic as transliterated "tarkhun/tarkhon," then borrowed by Medieval Latin as "tragonia." English borrowed the word in the mid 1500s, "apparently" from the Latin form, although it's possible it may have come from French "targon" (itself from the Latin form), with reinforcement by Latin.
^ The Romans used the representation of such a creature on their military banners, likely taken from their military adventures in the area of the Nile River, famous to this day for its crocodiles; thus, a kind of "dragon." Later the term was used by some in Christianity as a word for Satan, likely from the evil look of caricatures of dragons.
^^ This form of "drake" is unrelated to the word of the same spelling meaning "a male duck," although the two words seemed to have been mixed during the Middle Ages.
Labels: English, etymology, Germanic languages, Greek, Latin, recipes, tarragon, tarragon syrup
posted by Randy at 11:56 AM
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