IF YOU LIVE IN the Seattle area, next time you’re at a farmers market look for the Foraged and Found Edibles booth and pick up a copy of Christina Choi’s Wild Foods Recipe Calendar, with illustrations by Emily Counts. This month-by-month catalog of the Pacific Northwest’s wild cornucopia is a treasure trove of recipes and information.
I tried the Pickled Fiddleheads recipe first.
The biggest challenge of fiddleheads isn’t finding and picking them—that’s relatively easy once you have an understanding of their habitat (moist woodlands, stream banks, swampy areas). No, the hardest part is cleaning the curly little buggers. (Before and after photos below.)
Here’s a cleaning tip: Use two large bowls filled with water. Soak your fiddleheads in one and use the other as a rinsing dish. The chaff will come off easily enough with a little rubbing. When chaff begins to accumulate in your rinsing bowl, strain it out. This tedious sink-side work will be paid off handsomely with a pickled batch of springtime fiddleheads.
1 lb fiddleheads, cleaned
2 lemons
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp kosher salt
8-inch piece wild ginger (optional)
1 tsp whole black pepper
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp whole allspice
1/2 lb shallots, sliced 1/8 inch thick
4 pint jars with lids and screwcaps, sterilized
1. Remove strips of lemon zest with a peeler, then juice lemons.
2. Pack fiddleheads tightly into canning jars, layered with shallots and lemon zest.
3. Bring to boil water, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, spices, and optional ginger.
4. Pour over fiddleheads so that liquid reaches to within a 1/4 inch of rim, then secure lids and process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.
I grew up with eating these every spring. You just brought back a ton of memories I haven’t thought about in years. =)
OH YEAH! Never thought of pickling these guys. What a great idea.
I love the idea of pickling! (I just pickled some ramps in the same fashion). The fiddleheads here are starting to show up in the markets slightly unraveling… I wonder if that means the season is nearing the end.
One of my readers posed this question, and maybe you know the answer: “Are all ferns OK to eat as fiddleheads?”
I have never even heard of pickling them. Now I need to try one.
Garrett – Might be time to relive some of those childhood memories.
Matt – I’m thinking they’ll be extra good right around the end of the BBQ season, when spring will seem like a distant shore.
Julia – Yeah, those unravelled fiddleheads are to be avoided if possible, at least with lady ferns. Maybe ostrich can hang on a little longer before turning bitter.
Re:
A foray we went on with an nice popular hungarian lady (mushroom picker) let us have some of her pickled fiddleheads. Ever since I have wondered which ferns to pick from. The pictures look so close. Just need someone to show me. I have 6 acres of ferns it seems and they do not appear to be the right species? What you have looks so nummy. CookNgrl
Now that is a great idea,and those fiddleheads look wonderful too! Really enjoy reading your blog!
You read my mind, LC!
I've been pickling like crazy and making oshinko sushi with some select pickles (like radish and burdock). I'm actually right in the middle of writing a post about it.
I think the best edible ferns (fiddleheads) are lady and ostrich. The ones I collect in BC are Ladies but I think Ostrich tastes better. Bracken can be eaten-I love the texture
CookNGrl – You'll want to use lady ferns or ostrich ferns. There are a few others as well. Try to ID yr patch if you can.
Alisa – Thanks for stopping by. Reminds me that I need to get some of these recipes posted on Foodista…
Camille – I need to check out yr burdock post. Love pickled burdock. A Japanese place in Seattle, Maneki, does it well. What do you know about
Very happy to find your blog while searching for a pickled fiddleheads recipe. Trying this today!
It’s easy to clean fiddle heads first pick them dry put about 2 quarts in a large stainless bowl using a air compressor blow straight down into the bowl and all the brown skin will blow right out of the bowl then use your outside water spicket and hose them 4-5 times. will be clean as a whistle!!!! enjoy