Each spring for a very brief time, we smile when we see the green, curly fern tips known as fiddlehead ferns. Not only are they delicious, but they're a special treat as we can only get them during a short window of time each year.
Fiddlehead ferns are harvested only in certain regional areas and only in the Spring. They're most commonly found in the Northeast and the Great Lakes states where the ferns grow in wet, brackish forests. Each spring when the snow melts, the ferns push their way up through the forest floor, uncurling slowly. It's at this moment just before they uncurl that they are harvested. Tender and with a taste that is reminiscent of a cross between a green bean and asparagus, they can be sautéed or fried.
A tip for the inexperienced: fiddlehead ferns contain a toxin that causes stomach pain in humans when ingested. The toxin is destroyed by the heat generated during cooking, so as a result, the fiddleheads must be cooked thoroughly before eating. Deer are the only mammals known to be able to eat the fiddleheads and not be affected by the toxin.
To prepare, wash the curled-up tips carefully and remove any brown chaff. The chaff is either furry or paper-like. Trim off the browned ends. We like them sautéed with some shallots in butter and lightly sprinkled with salt and pepper, or dipped in beer batter and fried in some olive oil.
We've been finding them at the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, but they can also be ordered online if you can't find them locally.
(Image: Kathryn Hill)
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Is that $18 a pound? For that whole flat?
That can't be $18 a pound for something that I used to pick from the backyard, can it? I felt guilty when I bought some rhubard for $3/pound this weekend (I love rhubarb and I ran out of my frozen stash mid-winter)!
Sadly, yes, $18/lb. EXPENSIVE here in CA.
Fiddleheads are she-she. They are definitely $18 per pound.
Ramps are expensive too. They are weeds. Neither of these things are terribly delicious but they do represent the arrival of spring and they are wild so there is a bit of romanticism there.
They are a lot cheaper than that, hear in Ontario, and they taste wonderful, but the shape just gives me the willies. I have to really concentrate on not thinking about what they look like in order to eat 'em.
Carder, me too!
shi shi or not - I love fiddlehead ferns (though, I don't think I've ever spent anything near $18/pound for them!) - they're great sauteed or even as a pizza topping!
In addition to causing stomach pain - fiddleheads also taste really bitter if not cooked long enough - so give 'em some time! Here's a recipe for fiddleheads where you blanch them for a few minutes first, to remove the bitter taste/toxins, before sauteeing in garlicky goodness.
http://jcarrot.org/resources/sustainable-passover-menu/
I think ramps are very delicious. Haven't had fiddlehead ferns though.
I have never been so creeped out by something edible. But they look delicious. Thanks for sharing, I've never noticed these before.
I had them in a wonderful green mole/pipian dish at Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill a few years ago. They manage to absorb a lot of favor without going mushy from the long cooking.
Love fiddleheads! Thanks for the reminder that they're coming 'round again.
Yikes! $18! I buy them at Trader Joe's for much less, though I haven't seen them yet this year.
How long do you have to cook them before the toxins go away?
And me? I wait for the garlic scapes.
I'm curious -- are ALL fiddleheads edible?? I live in Seattle, and we have tons and tons of sword ferns out here that are putting out their fiddleheads now. How long must they be cooked?
And, because I'm dense...what is it about them that is creeping you guys out? To me they just look like, well, vegetables.
The only type of fiddle head that is edible is the Ostrich Fern.
I love them sauteed with ramps and a little bit of butter.
Truth be told, I have never paid for either of them in my life, but know where to pick them in the spring time.
Here is my new favorite way with fiddleheads, now that they are out again! Pasta, garlic, shallots, white wine, bacon and mushrooms!
http://theweekendgourmande.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/kitchen-firsts-fiddlehead-ferns-with-linguine/
Wow $18/pound is NUTS. I used to pick them in Northern Maine with my grandfather when I was a kid. I LOVE them. I've never seen them outside of Maine.
My family usually eats them steamed with butter, but my Mom likes them with a little vinegar (she eats spinach like that, too).
I haven't been back to CT for a long time. After the spring floods, from melting snow, I used to pick fiddleheads in E. Hartford and Glastonbury. In the fields, mucky, along the river bank. Near the bridges and in the Polish Picnic Grounds I would gift them to my Gram and Mom. I had to pick 3 tall kitchen bags. One for each of us. We would freeze them and had them even for Easter the next yea, before the new crop grew.
I'm really curious about the edibility of different species. I've only seen one type in Seattle- but I'm from Southeast Alaska where we used to pick and eat a very different variety. They were far more tender and sweet- I'm not in love with the variety here. Is it possible that they're really the same or we were eating something we maybe shouldn't have been? I've never gotten sick from them and we used to eat quite a few.
Hannah Ruth is definitely wrong about the ostrich fern being the only edible one. Not only are other ferns commonly eaten, but the ostrich fern has has been implicated in a number of poisoning episodes. So its edibility, strictly speaking, is questionable.
Some ferns, especially the bracken fern, are both toxic and carcinogenic. The main active factor may be the chemical ptaquiloside. The relatively high rates of stomach and esophageal cancer in some east Asian populations have been suggested to be in part due to the consumption of ferns (on the other hand, very hot tea is also a suspect).
Ptaquiloside and related compounds are both water soluble and subject to breakdown at elevated temperatures, so thorough cooking substantially reduces the toxicity of even bracken ferns. Public health agencies recommend cooking ferns for 10-15 minutes, but this would seem to defeat any point of eating them, as a vegetable cooked that long will be nasty and insipid.
Blanching in hot salted water, shocking in ice water, and lightly sauteeing as you would green beans is likely to be the best tradeoff of gastronomy and safety.
As for the edibility of various species, you'll just have to do your research. Sword fern rhizomes were commonly eaten by native people in the spring when other foods were scarce, so it is doubtful that they are much more toxic than other ferns. I've nibbled fiddleheads raw and never suffered any ill effects, although this isn't to be recommended.
Cook them, eat them in moderation, and keep in mind that many foods we eat without a second thought (e.g. potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, rhubarb) contain toxins, and eating the wrong part of certain garden vegetables in excess can have dire consequences. Shellfish can kill you in a heartbeat, but that doesn't stop people who like them from eating them.