The "Good Magic" of Fiddleheads

One of springtime's delicacies are fiddleheads that usually bloom in the month of May in Connecticut. Foraging, harvesting and eating this iconic wild edible is a time honored spring tradition for many Native Americans. 

About Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads are the coiled tips of young ostrich ferns that grow near brooks, rivers, and lakes.  They grow throughout the Northeastern U.S. and from British Columbia to the Northeastern Canadian Provinces where they have been consumed for centuries.

Fiddleheads are easily recognizable because the top of this plant looks like the scrolled neck of a violin. The trick is to pick fiddleheads before they unfurl into the large fronds of the fern; once they get too big, they are to bitter to eat. Picking time is short and lasts only about two weeks.

Fresh Fiddleheads are delicious and have a woodsy flavor.  Many compare it to a mixture of asparagus, spinach, and wild mushrooms.  Best of all, fiddleheads are high in iron, potassium, niacin, riboflavin, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and C.  Fiddleheads are also low in calories and high in fiber!

Medicinal and Culinary Use

Fiddleheads were called mahsos in the language of Malecite Native Peoples, a word that means "good magic."  For Native Americans, fiddleheads were an important source of food in the spring and provided vitamins and micronutrients. They were usually steamed or boiled in soups.

Medicinally the Cree (Algonquian) used fiddleheads in a decoction of the stalk during childbirth and for back pain.  Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, and Passamaquoddy tribes used fiddleheads as a medicinal tonic that acted as a diuretic. 

Maliseet traditional wisdom believes that consuming fiddleheads helps to cleanse the body of impurities and toxins. They also introduced this delectable delicacy to the Acadians, who were the descendants of French colonists that settled in Eastern Canada and Maine.

This iconic spring plant is thought to have become an art form.  Some have interpreted the double curve motif that Wabanaki people sometimes use to decorate artwork bears a strong resemblance to fiddleheads.

Did you Know

Only two or three fiddleheads should be picked from a clump, leave some to mature into large leaves.

Look for tightly curled buds that have just started to emerge for the best flavor.

Before cooking, fiddleheads make sure to rub off the brown paper-like skin and wash them thoroughly.

Fiddleheads don't keep long if the stems turn brown before cooking just snip them off.

The Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 woodland acres the IAIS has an outdoor Three Sisters and Healing Plants Gardens as well as a replicated 16th c. Algonkian Village.  Inside the museum, authentic artifacts are displayed in permanent, semi-permanent and temporary exhibits from prehistory to the present that allows visitors a walk through time. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut and can be reached online or by calling 860-868-0518.

The Institute for American Indian Studies preserves and educates through discovery and creativity the diverse traditions, vitality, and knowledge of Native American cultures. Through archaeology, the IAIS is able to build new understandings of the world and history of Native Americans, the focus is on stewardship and preservation.  This is achieved through workshops, special events, and education for students of all ages.