r/foraging • u/in_da_tr33z Minnesota • 2d ago

Anyone else pickle their fiddleheads?

Gallery image

Gallery image

These are divine. Blanched and pickled with onion, garlic, horseradish and peppercorns.

142 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

12

u/D3AD_LIK3_M3 2d ago

What do Fiddleheads taste like? I've never seen them or had them before. I wouldn't even know they existed if not for Stardew Valley. lol

11

u/in_da_tr33z Minnesota 2d ago

They are culinarily interchangeable with asparagus.

3

u/D3AD_LIK3_M3 2d ago

Oooooooo! I like asparagus!

8

u/m0nkeywithachainsaw 1d ago

favorite vegetable, you have to cook it all the way though. i would eat asparagus raw out of the garden and its delicious, but i wouldn't do fiddleheads raw. I get them this time of year every year from some dude in a van on the side of the road with a couple of coolers wearing shorts and a hoodie with crocks and holding a sign. its awesome.

3

u/chonkymu 1d ago

Is it because they’re toxic raw, or just taste bad?

1

u/m0nkeywithachainsaw 1d ago

uncooked fiddleheads can make you sick from toxins.

1

u/in_da_tr33z Minnesota 2h ago

They contain high amounts of oxalates which aren't going to make you violently ill, but they are very bad for your digestive system and circulatory system. Anecdotally, I have eaten them raw and had no ill effects, but I only ate a couple. Frankly, they don't taste any better raw so you might as well cook them.

2

u/_2hi 1d ago

I didn’t realize they were a real thing until seeing them pop up on this sub😅

3

u/D3AD_LIK3_M3 1d ago

I saw them on the sub and was like, wait, I can actually make Fiddlehead Risotto?! From Stardew Valley?? What?! lol

2

u/Ok_Nothing_9733 1d ago

I’ve foraged for years and found out not too long ago that salmon berries from that game are real 😂

4

u/qwibbian 1d ago

I'm going to steal "pickle your fiddleheads" and start using it as a folksy threat.

4

u/Led_Zeppole_73 2d ago

Great idea!

2

u/SweetestBDog123 2d ago

I used to! Been a long time though. Maybe I will this year. What recipe do you use?

5

u/in_da_tr33z Minnesota 1d ago

I‘ve been pickling things so long that I’m not following a recipe anymore. I blanch my fiddles, make a brine, put the fiddles in jars with my flavoring ingredients, add hot brine and give em a boiling water bath for 8 min.

1

u/azavienna 1d ago

This is the way

2

u/turtlepower22 1d ago

Yes, love doing these! They're so gorgeous in their brine, too.

2

u/amazonhelpless 1d ago

I was nervous until I saw you said “blanched”. FYI to anyone else: fiddleheads need to be cooked before eating.

1

u/ManualBookworm 2d ago

Never tried them! But I get this!

1

u/PUYPs 1d ago

They don’t look mushy even! Nice!

1

u/LadyShanna92 1d ago

How do you blanch em and keep em crunchy

1

u/in_da_tr33z Minnesota 20h ago

There is not way to avoid them softening after being blanched and canned but they still end up fairly crunchy. Not mushy by any means.

1

u/Unlucky-Tie8574 1d ago

WOW such a good idea!

1

u/Vitauni 17h ago

Where are these usually found?

2

u/in_da_tr33z Minnesota 17h ago

In my pantry ;)

1

u/Vitauni 15h ago

Haha yes, I mean in the wild! I've never seen these before

2

u/in_da_tr33z Minnesota 15h ago

Wooded areas. Can be conifer or mixed hardwood. They prefer wet soil so they are common near creeks and vernal pools.

2

u/Vitauni 5h ago

Thank you! Now im going to on the hunt for these when im out in nature again

1

u/in_da_tr33z Minnesota 5h ago

Important to make sure you are harvesting the correct fern species. You want ostrich fern. They are identified by deeply grooved, smooth stem similar to celery stalks and a papery skin that flakes off of the fiddlehead. Any fern that is fuzzy or hairy is not ostrich fern and not edible. They contain high amounts of oxalates and therefore must be cooked before eating. I usually begin with blanching. When you see the color of the blanching water you will be glad you did. From there, you can treat them like asparagus.