A Walk in the Woods and a Bracken Fern Forage
Photography by Marie Viljoen.
For a city dweller who pays attention to plants, a walk in the woods can be the best part of a vacation. These bracken fiddleheads are an ephemeral treat for the next night’s dinner, or a pickle to serve at picnics months hence, and seasons later.
In the boreal forest, conifers create a dappled pool of shade where ferns luxuriate and clear tannic water runs quietly.
The unfurling fronds of woodland-loving ostrich fern.
Unlike many plants, whose native range is limited to a region within a continent, bracken fern – Pteridium aquilinum – seems to occupy a sneak niche in terms of its native status: It is at home almost everywhere, in every hemisphere.
A serpentine bracken fiddlehead.
Aromatic bayberry flourishes in sunny clearings and shorelines.
Aronia offset by spiky spruce.
Bluebead lilies throng the cool woodland floor.
A handful of blanched bracken fiddleheads. Just like the more familiar ostrich fern in the United States and Canada, bracken’s fiddleheads should be eaten in moderation as a seasonal treat, and never raw.
Bracken fern fiddleheads are known as warabi in Japan.
Shoyu and vinegar preserve the blanched fiddleheads.
These supple fiddlehead pickles are a delight. • 1 ¼ cups shoyu (I use Ohsawa nama shoyu). To Blanch: After soaking for 24 hours, drain the ferns. To Pickle: Mix together the shoyu, vinegar, sugar and salt.
Pickled Bracken Fern Fiddleheads
Is bracken fern edible.
Yes, after proper preparation, bracken fern fiddleheads are edible.