We had ratatouille yesterday. I made this “Common Method” recipe many times (well, usually for ca. 1/3 the ingredients), and it’s just excellent, check it yourself.

So I was making the ratatouille, I put in the tomatoes, added herbes de Provence rather generously, and… got into a state of emergency! What’s that smell? Tarragon! Bleah! I saved the day somewhat by adding lots of basil, but my ratatouille was merely edible.

I like when herbes de Provence contain basil, which according to wikipedia is not a must. I wouldn’t mind a pinch of tarragon in it. But nowhere, nowhere, did I see any mention that herbes de Provence should be dominated by tarragon! What’s that, herbes d’Estragon, for chrissake? I should ask for money back, claim for moral damages, oh, gallows are so démodé nowadays…

On the other hand, that was my daughter’s first ratatouille, and suprisingly, she liked it. She’ll love the next one, which will be properly spiced.