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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Fern, most likely found near Babbling Brooks!

The benefits of eating fiddleheads


I’ve seen the first roadside sign of the season: Clean Fiddleheads, $2.75/pound. I have to commend the fiddleheaders who go out early each spring to forage for these little ostrich fern delicacies and then go home and clean off the brown, papery skin covering each one. It is a labor-intensive activity.
Fiddleheads actually are the curled young fronds of a fern. In the early spring, new growth of a fern emerges as curled leaves. Fiddleheads grow in New England and along the east coast of Canada as well as in Quebec and Ontario. In Maine, fresh fiddleheads are usually available from late April to mid-May.
There are many varieties of ferns around us, but the ostrich and cinnamon fern are the only two that are edible and safe to eat. Other varieties of ferns look similar but may be poisonous.
When gathering fiddleheads, you only want the first one to two inches of the stem that is attached to the coil. Anything else should be broken off and thrown away. Never harvest all of the fiddleheads from a patch or it could destroy the whole fern. It is best to take just two or three coils from each patch.
Fiddleheads should be cooked thoroughly before eating. Raw fiddleheads can carry food-borne illness and may cause stomach upset if you eat too many of them.
http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/05/23/health/the-benefits-of-eating-fiddleheads/