Poulet à l'Estragon

Chicken gently braised and napped in a silky cream sauce thick with fresh tarragon, the most comforting expression of the French love affair between tarragon and chicken

Origin: France

From the journey of Tarragon.

If béarnaise is the grandest expression of tarragon in French cooking, poulet à l'estragon is the most beloved, a dish of the bourgeois and the bistro table rather than the haute cuisine, and the clearest demonstration of the affinity the French kitchen discovered between tarragon and chicken. The pairing is almost alchemical: the sweet, faintly aniseed perfume of the herb seems made for the mild richness of chicken and cream, lifting and defining it as no other herb does. The dish takes many forms, from a whole bird roasted with a knob of tarragon butter slipped under the skin and a bunch of the herb in its cavity, to the more usual braise, in which chicken joints are gently cooked with shallot and white wine, then finished in a sauce of the cooking juices enriched with cream, mustard, and a generous handful of chopped fresh tarragon. The herb, as so often in French cooking, is used twice, a little simmered into the sauce for depth and more added fresh at the end for fragrance. Served with rice, buttered potatoes, or simply good bread to catch the sauce, poulet à l'estragon is one of the enduring comfort dishes of the French home.

Ingredients

The Chicken

1 chicken, jointed into 8 pieces (or 4 large chicken legs)
30 g butter
1 tbsp neutral oil

The Sauce

2 shallots, finely chopped
150 ml dry white wine
200 ml chicken stock
1 large bunch fresh tarragon, leaves picked, half chopped
150 ml double cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

Season the chicken well. Heat the butter and oil in a wide, heavy, lidded pan over medium-high heat and brown the chicken pieces all over, skin-side first, until deeply golden. Remove and set aside.
Lower the heat, add the shallots to the pan, and soften for 3 to 4 minutes. Pour in the white wine, scraping up the browned bits, and let it bubble and reduce by half.
Return the chicken to the pan with the stock and the tarragon stalks (or a few whole sprigs). Cover and simmer gently for 30 to 35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
Lift out the chicken and keep warm. Discard the tarragon stalks. Bring the liquid to a brisk simmer, stir in the cream and mustard, and reduce for a few minutes until lightly thickened and glossy.
Stir most of the chopped fresh tarragon into the sauce and season to taste. Return the chicken to the pan to coat, scatter with the remaining tarragon, and serve with rice, buttered potatoes, or bread.

Notes

Use French tarragon, not the milder Russian sort, and be generous with it; it is the whole point of the dish. A roast version is excellent: slip tarragon butter under the skin of a whole bird, put a bunch of tarragon in the cavity, roast, and make a quick pan sauce with the juices, wine, and cream. A squeeze of lemon at the end brightens the sauce, and crème fraîche can stand in for the double cream.

The Gastrographer

Name: Poulet à l'Estragon
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 1 chicken, jointed into 8 pieces (or 4 large chicken legs); 30 g butter; 1 tbsp neutral oil; 2 shallots, finely chopped; 150 ml dry white wine; 200 ml chicken stock; 1 large bunch fresh tarragon, leaves picked, half chopped; 150 ml double cream; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control