Vegetable
Ostrich Fern
S tier
Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is the fiddlehead you should mean in North America: coiled, green, a brown papery scale you must clean, a short spring season. It tastes of asparagus and woodland. Cook thoroughly. Lady fern is a different, less recommended table fern.
Track this ingredient
Unit
Characteristics
Preparations
Boil Then FrySpring
Traits
Asparagus WoodClean ScalesMatteucciaMust CookNorth AmericaNot Lady FernShort SeasonSpring Coil
History
CA
Northeastern foragers ate ostrich-fern fiddleheads as a spring green.
US
Ostrich fern was specified as the safe commercial fiddlehead.
Markets labelled ostrich fern to separate it from other coiled ferns.