396 MEALS MEDICINAL. 
in retaining for kitchen use, or for curative purposes, certain old 
English herbs, wellnigh forgotten elsewhere in the land, such as 
this excellent Costmary, Bergamot, and the Goosefoot Spinach, 
Good King Henry. 
In Continental cookery the use of a fragrant kitchen-herb, the 
Tarragon, not so common in England, is advised “to temper 
the coldness of other herbs in salads, like as the Rocket doth. 
Neither do we know what other use this herb hath.” But 
Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is gaining favour with ourselves, 
especially for making an aromatic vinegar therewith. Further- 
more, fresh Tarragon possesses an essential volatile oil, which 
becomes lost in the dried herb. John Evelyn has said of the plant, 
“°Tis highly cordial, and friendly to the head, heart, and liver.” 
French cooks usually mix their table mustard with the vinegar 
of this herb, which is sexually stimulating; the leaves make 
an excellent pickle. The volatile essential oil of Tarragon is 
chemically identical with that of Anise, and it is found to be 
stimulating to the generative functions, probably by virtue of 
its finely-elaborated camphor. For making Tarragon vinegar : 
Fill a wide-mouthed bottle with Tarragon-leaves fresh gathered, 
t.e., between Midsummer and Michaelmas, (plucking these on 
a dry day, just before the herb flowers). Pick the leaves off the 
stalks, and dry them a little before the fire; cover them with 
the best vinegar ; let them steep for fourteen days, then strain 
through a flannel jelly-bag till fine ; put it into half-pint bottles, 
and cork. Various other delicate vinegars for the table are much 
appreciated abroad, such as printemps, syringa, menthe, etc., 
the foreign cook being most fastidious as to the vinegar which 
he (or she) uses. The best white wine, or red wine vinegar, alone 
gives satisfaction, and this the cook personally flavours by 
infusing in it various herbs, or plants, either separately, or 
in combination. A good vinegar with us is made from 
the fruit acids of apples, or grapes; ordinarily it is 
got irom sour beer, as malt vinegar. The test advised 
by the College of Physicians for insuring the integrity 
of British vinegar, is a solution of one part of chloride of barium 
to eight parts of water. Ten drops of this should serve to 
precipitate all the sulphuric acid permissible in an ounce of 
lawful vinegar. If, after this precipitate has settled down, the 
test solution still continues to form a cloud, such sample of 
vinegar ought not to be used in the preparation of food. 
