During the long winter months, many of us have been waiting for the warmer temperatures of Spring to arrive. The rebirth of nature as it wakes from the long winter freeze. A spring hike through the woods of New England now holds the potential for many more pleasures.
This is the time of the year, if you’re a forager, you look forward to the opportunity to get out and harvest some delicacies. Fiddle-head pickin can be described in many terms, but the one I like to use is it's a ritual.
Foraging for Fiddleheads is a favorite spring activity of mine. Primarily because Fiddleheads, besides being a tasty delicacy that I will be enjoying many times this year, is also the first of this year's foraging opportunities.
Each spring, not long after the snow melts and depending on where you live. The Fiddle heads start emerging and are available for pickin for about two to three weeks.
The Fiddleheads are the young, coiled fronds of the ostrich fern. Nearly all ferns have Fiddleheads, but the ostrich fern are the edible tasty ones. How To ID and Prepare These Gourmet Gems of Mid-Spring
They are about an inch and a half in diameter and can be identified by the brown papery scale-like covering on the uncoiled fern. They also have a distinct, deep” U”-shaped groove on the inside of the fern stem.
Here in southern New England where I live and depending on the weather, the Fiddleheads will start emerging on the first or second week of April.
It’s now when the clock starts ticking because as the ferns first growth of the year is starting to push its way up through the forest floor. The opportunity to harvest them will only last a few weeks before all the ferns have uncurled. It’s also a perfect time because it’s just before the bugs have come out and are a problem in the woods.
You will find the Fiddleheads not far from the banks of rivers, streams, brooks or other flooded areas where the water has receded throughout the northeastern United States. When pickin fiddleheads, look for fresh, bright green, tightly coiled plants. If its brown, that is a sure sign of age, so avoid those.
When you are preparing fiddleheads, you should place them in your sink full of water and wash all the brown peanut shell type covering that will be on the fern. This will require a couple of water baths and using your hands as an agitator to remove it. When that it done, trim any stems that are on the fiddlehead so all you have left is a nice round top (fond).
When you are ready to cook them, it is recommended that you boil them for at least 10 minutes in lightly salted water, drain and then sauté them in butter for 3 or 4 minutes. Fiddle head ferns contain a toxin that causes stomach pain in humans when ingested. The toxin is destroyed by the heat generated during the cooking process.
There are many recipes that can be found on the internet so if you decide it’s time to go pickin, get a bunch of them, and after you have given them a good wash and dry, you can freeze some because they will freeze very well.
If you have never tried canning them before and want to give it a try, head out to the store and buy a case of canning jars for ten dollars. You would again blanch them in boiling water for 3 minutes, place them warm in your sterilized canning jars, add the hot brine and use the water bath canning method. They are a great addition to your summer antipasto recipe.
“Good Diggin"
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