buckwheat that are rich in oxalic acid: Rumex
acetosa, scutatus, and acetosella. Cooks use
them mainly as a source of acidity, and they
also provide a more generic green aroma.
Sorrel readily disintegrates with a little
cooking into a sauce-like puree that
complements fish, but whose chlorophyll
turns drab olive from the acidity. The color
can be brightened by pureeing some raw
sorrel and adding that to the sauce just before
serving.
Tarragon Tarragon is the small, narrow leaf
of a native of western and northern Asia,
Artemisia dracunculus, a member of the
lettuce family. The robust wild tarragon, often
sold in plant nurseries as Russian tarragon,
has a harsh and uninteresting flavor, while the
relatively fragile cultivated form, “French”
tarragon, has a distinctive aroma thanks to the
presence of a phenolic compound called
estragole (from the French name for the plant,