Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

While walking in early spring in Eastern Canada with your dog, or if you have no dog, with your feet, you may come across a rare edible plant delicacy known as a Fiddlehead.

This is my first experience of locating, cooking and eating such a unique and "tasty" fern:-

1.. Find a stream in or near the woods

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_01.jpg

2.. Or a river in or near the woods

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_02.jpg

3.. Look for old dead, vibrant stalks such as these:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_03.jpg

4.. Or, up close, like this:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_04.jpg

5.. Or this:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_05.jpg

6.. Or a clump like this..

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_06.jpg

7.. Can you spot the clumps here?

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_07.jpg

8.. Or here?

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_08.jpg

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

9.. Here they are:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...ead/FH_07b.jpg

10.. And here:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...ead/FH_08c.jpg

11.. When uncovered early in their growth cycle:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_09.jpg

12.. Sometimes they grow straight through the sandy soil:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_10.jpg

13.. They're pretty small right now:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_11.jpg

14.. Here's one we harvested:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...ead/FH_12c.jpg

15.. It's sat on a plate, brown husk removed. Smells a bit like the freshness of mint but not like mint (or anything else I can think of):

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...ead/FH_13c.jpg

16.. I boiled it in a pan. The water turned green then brown. There are health warnings on how to cook or prepare these things as there were some food poisoning scares. Search the internet or seek professional advice if you're concerned!

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...head/FH_14.jpg

17.. It seems tender and I don't want it to get mushy or lose its flavour. I'm gonna eat it now:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...ead/FH_15c.jpg

18.. Tastes like raw brussel sprout to me. Others say it tastes like grass. Others say it only smells and tastes like "Fiddleheads", i.e. very unique.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...ead/FH_16c.jpg

I'll reserve the next post to do a follow up in a couple of weeks when the Fiddlehead season really gets under way (with more words and pictures).


This is in no way professional advice on finding, harvesting, cooking or eating Fiddlehead ferns... just a personal experience.

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

Are you Ray Mears?

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

More like Bear Grylls (as the adventure was really close to a highway) :rofl:

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

Cheese graters can also be used to grate carrots.

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

I'd rather eat the quarter.

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

That's a useful time saving tip. I've always chopped them into small pieces when making coleslaw or something like that - who'd have thought that something designed for cheese would work on other food-stuffs.

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

You picked that fiddlehead far too early.

What a waste.

And what are those bright red spaghetti loops?

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

Tastes like raw brussel sprout to me. Others say it tastes like grass.

You're not selling it to me :D

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

Actually ... I saw these at our local grocery store (Metro in Toronto) frozen in a 350 g package. Never tried them ... but I do like brussel sprouts... Maybe I should go for them... Never knew where they come from! Thanks for the pics!

There are surely some nice recipes out there... must be very Canadian! :thumbsup:

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

Will that work? I thought only mods could edit stuff after more than a few hours.

Its a life saver for me...the only perk of this job:D

How rare can fiddleheads be? I've seen them seasonally in the supermarkets here! I've always thought it a newfie thing, like seal flipper pie!

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

Not a Newfie thing at all. Rarey seen here. Seal Flippers now available from Taylors fish van on the harbourfront. Not sure whether they do mail order to Ontario.;)

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

Maybe "maritime" would have been more appropriate.

Re: Field guide to Fiddleheads
 

You're right, of course, I can't edit it... if I PM you the post when I get it done would you mind pasting it in? (Just to keep it all together at the top of the thread... I'm sure someone will find it useful :confused:)

I'm just really starting to learn about fiddleheads myself right now. A few years back someone told me it was the season and I should look out for them but, until trying them recently, I hadn't heard much more about them.

I know they're rare enough to be classed as a "delicacy" in some parts of the world and the season for harvesting them is very short.

A quote from wikipedia: "..fiddleheads aren't cultivated and are available only seasonally. In rural areas, fiddleheads are harvested by individuals in early spring. When picking fiddleheads, three tops per plant is the recommended harvest. Each plant produces seven tops that turn into fronds; over-picking will kill the plant."