Fiddlehead Feed

[bushbuck]

The Girls went out and got a bunch of fiddleheads today. I wish I could have added the traditional native brook trout to the dinner but I had to work today. So we feasted on Salmon and fiddleheads.
Boy they are out awfull early this year, but they were fresh and tasted great!

[SeldomSeenSlim]

Mmmm... fiddleheads. A buddy and I went out two weeks ago and harvested a whole boatload. Literally- we took a canoe. Put a bunch up in the freezer.

Now if I could only seem to find some morels . . .

[HeadyPhish]

Yup, good pickin right now around me. Taste oh sooo good!!!!!

[natefish]

Funny I was just about to post about this. Spent yesterday scouting new fishing spots with my buddy Bill. In one spot there were few trout but many fiddle heads, so we took to gathering. Then we realized that a few trout would make for a perfect meal. We searched out a few browns in the evening to create the following. Most rewarding and tasty meal I can remember.

[Banks10]

Last weekend on a family hike I came across a large quantity of fiddleheads. I have never harvested them and have no experience with what to look for. Am I wrong or do you have to be pretty knowledgeable about what too look for and which species is edible? I have read about poisonous species that may look like fiddleheads.

Is this true or are pretty much all fiddleheads seen in the wild edible?

[Steve H.]

Nate, that's one good-looking meal. Never had fiddleheads....want to try them sometime. And baked brown trout is delicious. Aside from wild brookies (which I almost never harvest), they are my favorite tasting trout.

[bushbuck]

That brown trout still has some great color in that photo. Looks like you should have a matching slice of Cranberry nut bread on the side..

That photo truly is the breakfast of champions.

[jmcg]

What a bounty!
And just out for the picking and catching.
Pretty cool stuff.

[ljgurke]

Am I wrong or do you have to be pretty knowledgeable about what too look for and which species is edible? I have read about poisonous species that may look like fiddleheads.

Is this true or are pretty much all fiddleheads seen in the wild edible?

This is from the University of Maine site - sounds like the "right kind" are pretty easy to identify ...

"Fiddleheads, an early spring delicacy in Maine, are the young coiled leaves of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris). Nearly all ferns have fiddleheads, but those of the ostrich fern are unlike any other. Ostrich fern fiddleheads, which are about an inch in diameter, can be identified by the brown papery scale-like covering on the uncoiled fern, as well as the smooth fern stem, and the deep ”U”-shaped groove on the inside of the fern stem. Look for ostrich ferns emerging in clusters of about three to twelve fiddleheads each on the banks of rivers, streams, and brooks in April and May."

[natefish]

That looks right, if they have white hairs they are not the right kind. These ones were so good I was eating them as I picked.

[LeeG]

Funny I was just about to post about this. Spent yesterday scouting new fishing spots with my buddy Bill. In one spot there were few trout but many fiddle heads, so we took to gathering. Then we realized that a few trout would make for a perfect meal. We searched out a few browns in the evening to create the following. Most rewarding and tasty meal I can remember.

Nate
How did you cook the fiddleheads, looks like bacon bites in with them??

Thanks
Lee

[natefish]

I suppose that might be a nice touch, but in this case it was: crushed red pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and Parmesan cheese sauteed in olive oil...had more this weekend...so good.