A Bit More Detail

Behind and besides Frederick are examples of fiddlehead ferns--ferns which, as they emerge from the earth in springtime, have their young leaves clamped tighltly together in the shape of a fiddle head. These are a bit of a local delicacy in my part of North America. on Prince Edward Island the local fiddlehead fern is the ostrich fern, a delicacy (as Wikipedia says) "mainly in rural areas of northeastern North America and (as The Canadian Encyclopedia proudly says) is "is the only native Canadian plant that has achieved commercial success as a vegetable."

Fiddlehead are in their coiled form for only about 2 weeks (in May in eastern Canada) before they unfurl. Harvested fiddleheads are about 5 cm long and about 2.5 cm in diameter. Once the leaves grow beyond 7.5 cm they become too bitter to eat. The fiddleheads are gathered from wild stands, although some experimental cultivation is in progress.

(It has been a cold spring on Prince Edward Island, hence the delayed growth.)

The fiddlehead has even inspired the name of the long-standing University of New Brunswick literary magazine The Fiddlehead.

A standard fiddlehead recipe here. In the Maritime tradition, they aren't especially complex. First discard brownish or yellowish fringes, then put the ferns in cold salted water set to boil for eight to ten minutes, the finally serve them "piping hot with butter and a sprinkle of vinegar or lemon juice."

When I was much younger, I prevailed on my family to go to the trouble of gathering and cooking them. I wanted to help revive a long tradition that (so I was told) had been neglected for a generation.

Guess what?

I hate them.

* * *

The above photo is one of twenty-nine taken on 1 June near the homes of my maternal grandparents/uncle and aunt and uncle in the community of Rollo Bay, near the community of Souris. The complete set of photos is available on Flickr, right here. Enjoy!