We’ve talked a lot about ramps, with their short-season, and Fiddlehead Ferns are yet another elusive spring item available in the Farmer’s Market right now. Lon and I had never tried them before, so I had to do a little research beforehand. Apparently, they are poisonous raw so make sure you cook them. Good thing I didn’t just pop one in my mouth. I sometimes do that when I find something new.
As a first-timer, I wanted the simplest approach so I could really taste what the Fiddlehead ferns tasted like. I blanched them first (recommended on many websites about these curly veggies) and then sauteed with garlic and olive oil (salt & pepper). Ehh, they’re not disgusting, but not that great either. They taste like grass. The stem (outside of circle) maintains a nice al dente texture, but the inside is almost fuzzy. Neither of us would buy it again. Oh well…
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It’s posts like this on well read blogs that create panic and rumors. Fiddle head ferns are NOT POISONOUS when eaten raw. Please, please, please do real research before posting stuff like this.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00032588.htm
The issue here is that fiddleheads can be confused with some other species of fern that might contain toxins … and/or the ferns might be contaminated and cause food poisoning.
To say that spring fiddleheads are poisonous is as irresponsible as saying “mushrooms are poisonous”. It just isn’t true.
Kara, I did do research and it says on several sites that they can contain toxins. Here’s one example. Also, the site that you link does not specifically say that they are not poisonous.
While the most commonly eaten one from ostrich fern is not known to contain toxins, other species do, and depending on where you are, people eat different species of fiddlehead ferns. Better safe than sorry.
I have a confession to make. I’d probably eat the cookie pies instead!
that looks SO cool.
Yeah, I have to agree with you here. A few of my friends are doing ag degrees, and they all have divergent views on fiddlehead ferns. I prefer not to mess with the raw, and a few of my raw foodie friends think I’m crazy. I like to save myself the trip to the ER (or bathroom, for that matter!).
I have to agree with you on the fiddleheads and the way you prepared them. I did the same the first time and didn’t think they were anything great. However, my boyfriend’s grandmother liked them, so for mother’s day one year I tried cream of fiddlehead soup as a treat for her, and it is *to die for*. That grassy, squishy thing turns into the most delicious soup… i actually anticipate them being in the stores every year so i can make a big batch of the stuff. I actually get ‘orders’ from family members asking me to make a batch of the stuff for them. Don’t give up on them just yet… try the soup (if you’re a fan of cream soups) and you might just like ’em 🙂
How odd! I would never think of eating ferns. But interesting to read the results…I’m with Blond Duck though. I’d rather have the cookie pie! 🙂
Good for you guys in trying it, I love your sense of adventure, if you dont try it you will never know! By the way I love your site, it is the first I visit every day as part of my morning ritual, thank you so much!!!
Stephanie, you remind me of a good point. I used to have a chef instructor back in culinary school that always said, you have to try something twice before you decide you don’t like it.
Do you have a recipe for this soup of yours?
Mic-E-Mic, thanks for being such a loyal reader!
So *that’s* what fiddlehead ferns are! I had them recently at a restaurant with escargot and gruyere gnocchi. They were so drenched in sauce I mistook them for a part of the escargot; they had a similar chewy texture and earthy flavor. Odd . . .
Just for the record… fiddlehead ferns can be poisonous. Wife and I recently went to a 5-star restaurant and ordered them as a side plate. They tasted great. Its the only part of the meal we shared. Later that night we both became violently ill. I’m not sure if it was from under cooking or what the problem was but almost 99% sure it was from the ferns.
while there have been no reported incidences of Ostrich fiddleheads being toxic – or making anyone sick (except for the fellow above, who thinks they did …maybe they were contaminated …maybe it was something else you ate that night)- a good enough reason to thoroughly cook them is that they contain an enzyme that blocks the absorption of some of the B vitamins – 10 minutes of cooking destroies this enzyme. I boil for 10 or steam for 12 …I don’t know how anyone would get that they taste like grass …I suppose our taste buds are all different …this is the only time I have ever heard them described that way ..to me, about 80% asparagus & 20% spinach …and chewy? HUH? Must have been the snails …no way are they chewy except maybe raw, never tried them raw …they are melt in your mouth tender. It is important to remember that any soil can be contaminated … if you don’t like FiddelHeads, or are afraid of them …I say good! More for me! Remember also – all ferns put up fiddle heads …but ‘THEE’ fidlehead fern is the Ostrich …nothing else compares …we forage them ourselves here in Northern NY
Lori, a couple of weeks ago, I went foraging with a group and then we cooked everything. The fiddleheads were much better this time, though I still don’t love them. At least they didn’t feel fuzzy. The ones pictured in this post were bought from the farmer’s market and were very different form the ones we foraged and just ate. As always, when it happens to be in front of me, I’ll try it again, but still can’t say I’d go out of my way for them.
Kara: I got sick myself as one of 20 people in Anchorage at a catered luncheon two weeks ago and it appears undercooked fiddlehead ferns are to blame. In Alaska we know what fiddlehead ferns are and we know what they look like we do not mix them up with other plants. I was sick as a dog my body expelled whatever poison was in there, violently, from both ends. I would not recommend eating these at all unless you are at your own home and able to go right to your own bathroom and get right in the shower with your clothes still on when the episode subsides. If this had happened to you, you wouldn’t eat them again either. I am not spreading any rumors or lies this happened to me.
P.S. The Anchorage Health department will release its report in a few weeks I would look at it when it comes out if I were any of y’all before I ate these and certainly before I decided to add them aa a menu item at my restaurant. If the 1994 reports of food poisoning by fiddlehead ferns aren’t enough to show they can be dangerous this report should.
P.P.S. Story in Anchorage Daily News at http://www.adn.com/2010/05/17/1281986/at-least-20-report-stomach-woes.html
E Fleming, hope you’re feeling better!
Well, I just finished eating some woefully under cooked fiddle heads and ended up here because my throat feels funny. In the past I always cooked them longer and I was fine. I sure hope I don’t end up puking or worse. Wish me luck.
Rachael, hope you’re not sick and enjoying your weekend!!
Fiddleheads are not actually a type of fern. All ferns have fiddleheads, as it is merely the young unfurled part of the fern. Thus some are poisonous as some ferns are poisonous. However many types are edible. Making sure you know how to identify the types that are edible is key. Ostrich ferns are edible and great tasting!
A large group of us went on a wildflower/bird walk over the weekend, and we all tried fiddleheads raw. Noone got sick, but we didn’t eat large quantities of them. I ate about 5 of them raw, and my sons each had a couple. We haven’t felt any adverse effects. Maybe some are more sensitive to them than others?
I grew up in Maine eating fiddleheads every spring.They should not be cooked in olive oil.We boil or steam them until tender and eat them with butter and vinegar or garlic salt and butter with a dash of salt.Yummy and good for you!Overcooked they aren’t as good.
Just finished parboiling some ostrich fern fiddleheads (the edible ones that are sold all over Canada and harvested here in New Brunswick every spring)to be eaten later in the year. I have been eating them for years, love them, and will continue to eat them. However, both my then thirteen year old son and I got sick from eating some while camping in the summer of 2001, without doubt because we cooked them too short a time. Not only were we sick all night, but it was a truck camper so we had to dump our own sewage the next day…. it was not pleasant, but at least we were not in a tent a mile from the john at an open campsite. There are several websites, including one from the Government of Canada that confirm this reaction. As I said, I love them, I continue to eat them, but I am now very careful how I cook them. Not overcooked, just till tender. My mistake was to microwave them in the camper for too short a time. I am not sure my son will ever even look at one again without turning as green as the fiddlehead.