Home > Reference > Leafy and salad vegetables > Fiddlehead Fern
Fiddlehead ferns refers to the unfurled fronds of a young fern harvested for food consumption. The fiddlehead, or circinate vernation, unrolls as the fern matures and grows due to more growth in the inside of the curl. Fiddleheads are usually located by the bottom of a fern plant.
The fiddlehead resembles the curled ornamentation (called a scroll) on the end of a stringed instrument, such as a fiddle. It is also called a crozier, after the curved staff used by bishops, which has its origins in the shepherd’s crook.
Culinary uses
Fiddleheads have been part of traditional diets in much of Asia, Australia and New Zealand, as well as among Native Americans for centuries.
Asian Cuisine
In Indonesia, young fiddlehead ferns are cooked in a rich coconut sauce spiced with chilis, galangal, lemongrass, turmeric leaves and other spices. This dish is called Gulai Pakis, sometimes gulai paku, a dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia.
In East Asia, fiddleheads of bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) are eaten as a vegetable, called warabi (?) in Japan, gosari (?) in Korea, and juécài () in China and Taiwan. In Korea, a typical banchan (small side dish) is gosari-namul (?) that consists of prepared fernbrake fiddleheads that have been sauteed. It is a component of the popular dish bibimbap. In Japan, bracken fiddleheads are a prized dish, and roasting the fiddleheads is reputed to neutralize any toxins in the vegetable.
In Japan, fiddleheads of flowering fern (Osmunda japonica), known as zenmai (?) in Japanese, as well as those of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), known as kogomi (???), are commonly eaten in springtime. Fiddleheads in Japan are considered sansai, or wild vegetables.
North American cooking
Ostrich ferns are also known as fiddlehead ferns. Fiddleheads are a traditional dish of New England in the United States, and of Quebec and the Maritimes in Canada. The Canadian village of Tide Head, New Brunswick, bills itself as the Fiddlehead Capital of the World.
When cooking fiddleheads, first remove all the yellow/brown skin, then boil the sprouts twice with a change of water between boilings. Removing the water reduces the bitterness and the content of tannins and toxins. The Center for Disease Control associated a number of food-borne illness cases with fiddleheads in the early nineties. Although they did not identify a toxin in the fiddleheads, the findings of that case suggest fiddleheads should be cooked thoroughly before eating. The cooking time recommended by health authorities is ten minutes if boiled and twenty if steamed. The cooking method recommended by gourmets is to spread a thin layer in a steam basket and steam lightly, just until tender crisp.
Fiddleheads are available in the market for only a few weeks in springtime, and are fairly expensive. Pickled and frozen fiddleheads, however, can be found in some shops year-round.
Sources and harvesting
Though available regionally in some supermarkets and restaurants, fiddleheads aren’t cultivated and are available only seasonally. In rural areas, fiddleheads are harvested by individuals in early spring. When picking fiddleheads, three tops per plant is the recommended harvest. Each plant produces seven tops that turn into fronds; over-picking will kill the plant. Maintaining sustainable harvesting methods is important in the propagation of any non-farmed food species.
The fiddleheads of certain ferns are eaten as a cooked leaf vegetable; they must be cooked first to remove shikimic acid. The most popular of these are:
- Bracken, Pteridium aquilinum, found worldwide
- Ostrich fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, found in northern regions worldwide, and the central/eastern part of North America
- Cinnamon fern or buckhorn fern, Osmunda cinnamomea, found in the Eastern parts of North America
- Royal fern, Osmunda regalis, found worldwide
- Zenmai or flowering fern, Osmunda japonica, found in East Asia
- Vegetable fern, Athyrium esculentum, found throughout Asia and Oceania
Fiddleheads’ ornamental value makes them very expensive in the temperate regions where they are not abundant.