03/17/2022
Pickled fiddleheads: from forage to jar. In stock again for a limited time! It's that magical time of year when there's a bit of a lull in the mushroom season and we anticipate the jump from winter fungi to spring fruitings and so we turn our quest for tasty wild edibles to the verdant fiddle head of the Lady Fern (Athyrium filix- femina); the ambassador of spring!
All winter long the baby ferns sleep beneath their blankets of dead leaves and duff, coiled tightly in their nests, awaiting warm temperatures. When things are just right they peek their little heads out to tell us that spring has finally sprung. I dream about this first fiddlehead day for a few months before I get the feeling that I should finally go check on my little friends at the stream with the perfect mossy waterfall.
The lady fern loves wet areas and you will typically find them near streams and ditches and in places where water is abundant. Early in the spring before many sprouts are up it may be difficult to find the nests or crowns where the fern heads are located. This is because this type of fern leaf dies back every year unlike sword ferns which keep their foliage through the winter. Look for dead brown stemmy foliage leading from the area where the ferns grow, their crown. Once you find the crown look to see how big the fernheads are. If they are still very tightly coiled it will be difficult to remove them from the nest and may even cause damage to the crown. Wait until some have unfurled a bit before snapping them off with your bare hands. Only take a few from each crown to ensure a healthy plant and future harvests.
There are a few things to take note of when harvesting fiddleheads to make sure you have the correct one. Other species have been reported as toxic. One of the most obvious features is the fiddle itself. Some ferns don't have this or have some variation of this feature. Another features is the "hips". Lady ferns have a leaf shape that starts thin near the main stem and gets wide then returns to thin again. The third picture in this series demonstrates what I mean. They also have thin brown paper-like particles as opposed to hairs on their fernheads. This is shown in pics 3 and 4. They also have a u shaped indentation that runs down the topside of the stem. This feature is shown in pics 3 and 6. Other ferns have a v or no indentation.
Lots of other ferns have some of these features but none have all of these features at least in California. Not sure about other areas and their types of ferns. There are lots of fern species out there. Hopefuy this helps narrow it down for you!
Once you have your fiddleheads home you need to process them. This can take a while! The paper on the coils does not come off easily so we devised a method for cleaning that takes a bit less time especially if you have a lot to process. First we put them in a bucket with a 1/4 in screen on top and shake them over the screen for a while until hardly any paper comes out then we spray them with a high powered sprayer and agitate them in the bucket while pouring out the water until it is reasonably clean water. Don't sweat a little paper.
Next we make a brine. I make mine with rosemary, lemons and garlic but you can use whatever you like. The key amount of vinegar seems to be around a third to 2/3 water. Salt and sugar to taste. Boil the broth. Cold pack the fiddleheads and other ingredients into jars, pour the hot brine over the ingredients in the jars, cap, then can in a hot water bath for 20+ mins. Now you can enjoy crisp and tender green spring coils all year long!
