A dilemma, do I get out my favorite Sage reel and pole and head straight for my usual secret spot up on the Sebago with my most precious hand-tied Magog fly, a sure winner when it comes to catching local spring salmon or do I take advantage of the early season and go fiddling for a precious spring green in places no one knows about? What a dilemma, fresh salmon or fresh fiddleheads. I know the fish are biting, yet the question remains, can we still find some of the local delicacy, the unfurled fiddleheads? Did anyone find my secret stash?
Maine has a lot of secrets, one of which is the succulent
spring fiddleheads; the unfurled fronds of young ferns that are harvested as a
precious spring green. What are fiddleheads? Some people use the unfurled
fronds of the lady ferns, the bracken ferns, and for some the cinnamon ferns,
but the real Maine fiddlehead connoisseurs, the real old timers use the fronds
of only one, the bold ostrich fern.
When I first came to Maine some twenty years ago as a
flatlander and I first heard about fiddleheads my response was typical. You eat
what? Yet now looking back I can only say thank you to whoever turned me onto
this precious, tasty right of spring. Now it wouldn't be spring without the
treasure of the fiddleheads.
Heading for their damp, composty hideouts Fiddleheads,
the unfurled new leaves still tightly coiled are harvested simply by cutting the
tender individual fronds in early spring before they fully uncoil. So as not to
damage the individual adult ferns only about three fiddles are harvested from
each individual plant. This is where some people get greedy and ruin the
plants. I only take two. It is important not to overdue the slicing because
each mature plant only produces seven new fronds each season that ultimately
turn into leaves. Over picking will easily kill the plants.
Though they are a real Maine thing, eating fiddleheads
isn't new, they have been part of the French diet sense the middle ages.
More to the point, when the first settlers arrived in the
new world it was the Native Americans that first introduced the new arrivals
too many things, including the bold ostrich fern.
Growing wild in deep, rich, aged, wet organic soils once
found these treasures of the shade are often held as secrets shared with only a
precious few. Cooked typically steamed or boiled before being eaten hot either
with a simply dollop of butter, or as I now do with a touch of Parmesan or
sometimes a warm coating of hollandaise sauce.
For some the slight bitterness can be a turn off, should
you be a first timer and it bothers you, a great way to compete with the
distinctive taste, a cross between fresh spring asparagus and summer green
beans is to boil them twice with a change of water between boilings. Removing
the water removes the tannins. For most Mainers, cooking is simply laying a
fresh washed layer in a steamer once and steam just until el dante. Done.
Rich in various vitamins and minerals, their real gift
beyond taste is the high amount of antioxidants and dietary fiber. Like
anything else picked, wild fiddleheads should be washed first just to remove
any fine soil grains before cooking.
Fiddlehead carbonara. Oh I can taste it now. A truly
versatile green with so many ways to be used, in spring salads, or maybe as a
green in a potato soup, or simply as a green by themselves, don't be afraid to
experiment.
So if you haven't yet tried fiddleheads and don't really
want to tramp through the damp woods, watch for them in the market this spring
and give them a try. Before you know it you may even be pickling some to share
with others. I can taste them now. The salmon in the Sebago will just have to
wait a bit longer. Fiddleheads come first.
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