We tried fiddleheads for the first time!
Fiddleheads are the furled fronds of a young fern, harvested for use as a vegetable. The variety of fiddlehead eaten in North America is the ostrich fern fiddlehead.
Only available a short window of time, S came upon them on a trip to Kin’s Farmer’s Market. Their season is in the spring as ferns produce new shoots.
S found a recipe for Sauteed Fiddleheads with Garlic Lemon Butter from the blog It’s a Veg World After All.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fiddlehead ferns
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon butter – divided
- 2 pressed or minced cloves garlic – pressed or minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Prepare the fiddleheads by washing them, peeling off any brown papery skin (most won’t have that but some might), and slicing off any brown ends. Fill a large bowl with cold water and add the fiddleheads, swishing them around with your hands to remove any dirt. Discard the water and repeat this process another time.
- Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the fiddleheads and cook them for 10-15 minutes. Drain and rinse them in a colander.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and the fiddleheads, and cook for a few minutes. Stir in the other tablespoon of butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Cook for another few minutes, and serve warm.
As an experience, eating fiddleheads was most comparable to asparagus. I would be interested to try different recipes for them. Similar to many vegetables, I imagine that fiddleheads would vastly differ in taste and texture depending on the method of preparation.
Always fun to try something new!
