Fiddlehead Foraging: How To Sustainably Harvest, ID and Prepare These Gourmet Gems of Mid-Spring
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It's fiddlehead season! And I am excited to share with you all about this mid-spring, gourmet treat.
In this lesson I focus on the fiddleheads from the Ostrich Fern, scientifically called Matteuccia struthiopteris. They offer a mild and pleasing flavor, to gussy up any spring dish.
The part we eat is the fiddlehead, the crozier— the tightly coiled part of the fern that looks like a fiddle’s (the instrument’s) head, along with its tender stem. Gather when up to 6-7 inches tall, and still has a tightly coiled tip. Eat both the stipe (stalk, aka petiole) and fiddlehead.
However, this gourmet, North American native perennial needs to be gathered sustainably. The first rule: eat only from mature plants that have at least 5 fronds emerging. Then gather no more than ⅓ of the fronds, so harvest only 1 frond from a plant with 5 emerging fronds; 2 from a fern with 6, and so on, (please watch video for more clarity).
Look for Ostrich Ferns along river banks, and shady moist woodlands. They grow in rich moist soil, in shady to part shady conditions. As a Native of North America they can be found throughout the USA and Canada in hardiness zones 2–7.
If none grows in your area, plant some of these shade-loving, regal beauties. They are easy to grow, yet slow to take off, but once established and happy, they will spread = tasty eating.
This fern is dimorphic (pretty cool)! It grows two types of ferns, fertile and sterile. We eat the sterile ones that are green and soft, versus the fertile fronds that are stiff and brown.
Ostrich Fern ID+
The leafy sterile (edible) frond grows 2-6 feet tall. When fully grown it is largest above the middle and tapers at both ends.
The fertile frond is small, brown, and stiff and may grow up to a foot tall. It releases spores during winter and spring.
Both fertile and infertile fronds’ stipes (stalk) below the blades (expanded leafy part of the fern), and the rachis’ (the central stalk within the blade) have a groove—a u-shaped indent down its middle.
The fern is not wooly or hairy and the sterile (edible) fronds, when they emerge, have a brown coppery papery sheath covering them.
Wishing you fiddlehead fun!
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Fiddleheads - What are they and how do you cook them?
This week on the podcast, we're cooking with fiddleheads. These are the furled fronds of a young fern plant, harvested for use as a vegetable. You may have seen them in the spring growing in the wild or packaged in your grocery store. We'd never tried them so this whole episode is an experiment and we learned quite a lot about fiddleheads.
First of all, whether you forage or buy your fiddleheads, they're not safe to eat raw. You'll need to wash and then boil or blanche the fiddleheads to remove toxins. Then they're safe to eat and are wonderful in salads or simply sautéed. We decided the flavour is something like a mild asparagus, but with better texture (nothing stringy here!).
Heather took it a step further with inspiration from a favourite cook book (Bisous & Brioche ( by Rebecca Wellman and Laura Bradbury) to make a fiddlehead and leek cheese tart. It's a par baked pie crust (puff pastry would also be fantastic, and easy), with sautéed leaks and fiddleheads. Egg holds it together and then a pile of shredded emmental and Gruyère cheese finishes it off. The fiddleheads hold their shape, look beautiful and just taste so fresh on this tart.
After recording, Erin made a fiddlehead quiche that got rave reviews from her family. Fiddleheads would also be fantastic on flatbread or baked into focaccia. If they're new to you, give them a try next time they're in season where you live!
Episode Links
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~ Fiddlehead and Leek Tart Recipe (
~ Fiddlehead & Bacon Quiche Recipe (
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Picking & cooking fiddlehead fern (PAKO)| special cooking with coco milk & sardines | promdi diaries
good day everyone, today another adventure with promdi diaries, we are going to pick fiddlehead fern (pako) and cook it in a special probinsyano way with gata (coconut milk) and sardines.
i hope you will injoy the video.
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