BEAUTIFUL FIDDLEHEADS LAUNCH INTO A BEAUTIFUL SPRING SUPPER

We love the way ferns spring from ground and spread in springtime. Sprouts are basically seeds that have just launched. They are packed with energy, unleashing as they unfurl. Fiddleheads are our springtime favorites. They are the beautiful “sprouts” of ferns, named for their close resemblance to the coiled head of a violin.

Edible varieties of fiddleheads include the Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), flowering fern (Osmunda japonica). Fiddleheads in Japan are considered sansai (wild vegetables). They are sauteed and served as a side dish, called gosari, in Korea. They are pickled and sauteed in India.

Fiddleheads are turned into iconic dishes in New England, the Pacific Northwest, and Canada, where they flourish in the wet areas of forests. The Canadian village of Tide Head, New Brunswick, is known as the "Fiddlehead Capital of the World."

We love to walk in the woods, in upstate New York, after a rainy spell, and pick them when they are just launching out of the damp earth, when they are at their most tender and full of life. We’re careful to make sure we pick only the ostrich fiddleheads, because the others that grow in our region are toxic and some are carcinogenic.

We rinse them well and remove their papery outer bits to prep them. We then simply steam or sautee the fiddleheads, until tender-crisp, as we would asparagus or green beans, which they kind of resemble in flavor. Brown butter and hazelnuts sauce them perfectly for a spring supper. We love them with lemon-tarragon Hollandaise too.

One of our favorite spring celebrations dishes is a wild fettuccini primavera, with plump morels, fiddleheads, napped in a light and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

Patrick Cappiello and Branden McRill recently launched Manhattan restaurant, Rebelle, got “spring fever” when the chef created a beautiful fiddlehead fantasy, played out with grilled ramps, toasted hazelnuts and a hint of maple.

Fiddleheads are packed with nutrients, particularly vitamins A & C, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, potassium, and they have a surprising amount of protein for a green vegetable.

Here’s a list of other edible fiddlehead varieties to try:

• Western sword fern, Polystichum munitum, "king of northwest ferns."
• Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, found worldwide
• Lady fern, Athyrium filix-femina, throughout most of the temperate northern hemisphere.
• Cinnamon fern or buckhorn fern, Osmunda cinnamomea, found in the eastern parts of North America, although not so palatable as ostrich fern.
• Royal fern, Osmunda regalis, found worldwide
• Stenochlaena palustris
• Vegetable fern, Athyrium esculentum, found throughout Asia and Oceania

Read more about Beautiful Launch, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including Wake up to Something Beautiful Now! and 10 New Species Launch New Understandings Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Jo Christian Oterhals. Backlit Bracken.
2. Image: by Kazuhiro Tsugita. Zenmai. (Osmunda japonica)
3. Image: by Shira White. Fiddlehead ferns.
4. Image: by RekishiEJ. Zenmai. (Osmunda japonica)
5. Image: by Shira White. Asparagus, fiddlehead ferns and morels.
6. Image: by Shira White. Wild Fettuccini Primavera.
7. Image: Courtesy of Rebelle. Caption: “Chef Eddy's got that spring fever.”
8. Image: by peppergrasss. Fiddlehead. Cinnamon Fiddlehead.
9. Image: Courtesy of Dave’s Garden. Ostrich Fern.
10. Image: by Shira White. Wild Fettuccini Primavera.
11. Image: Courtesy of NorCliff Farms. Ostrich Fern Fiddlehead.