Fiddlehead Ferns
These elusive little gems are in season
for only a few short weeks from late April to early May, the mud
season, and the best place to find them is in Maine, although they do
grow all along the East Coast and in some areas of the Pacific
Northwest. The finest fiddleheads are plucked by hand by a few avid
hunters, most of whom are extremely jealous of their private caches and
will never tell where in the swampy marshes and damp hillocks of Maine
or eastern Canada that they find them.
Usually, only the tiny, furled (like the scroll of a fiddle, hence the
name), undeveloped shoots of the ostrich fern are eaten, although, in
other countries, bracken are also cooked. Most other ferns are not
dibble, and you must be very careful when buying the fresh variety as
the wrong ones can be poisonous. There are canned fiddle heads, usually
found in the gourmet section of large supermarkets or in specialty
stores. In my estimation these canned fiddleheads are as unappetizing
as canned spinach, but they might come in handy if you become addicted
and simply must have fiddleheads. The canned variety should be rinsed
and well drained before using. They usually have already been
overcooked during the canning process, and will need very little
additional preparation.
Fresh fiddleheads can be prepared much like asparagus, although I think
they are too few and far between not to enjoy in as simple a manner as
possible.
While fiddleheads are not readily enough available to seriously affect
anyone’s diet, they do provide a modicum of both vitamin A and vitamin
C. |