Giant actually starting selling fiddleheads last year (for only like $2.99 a pound). Haven't seen them this year, but I thought they were really tasty, with a flavor somewhere between an artichoke and a mushroom (this article keeps saying they are bitter, but I didn't find that to be the case).

The person complaining that the fiddleheads she ate were bitter probably picked the wrong fern variety. True ostrich fern fiddleheads, dark green with papery coverings, IIRC, grow only in the Northeast. There is an edible fiddlehead in the West, although I have never tasted it--"bracken" fern, I think. I have eaten NE fiddleheads many times, and was an enthusiastic fiddlehead forager when I lived in Vermont. I have to say, that even with years of eating experience since my Vermont years, I have never tasted a more delicious vegetable. Steamed until just tender and served with hollandaise or just tossed in butter, they taste like a slightly sweet, nutty cross between asparagus and artichoke heart. To pickle fiddleheads IMO, is wanton mischief, bordering on the criminal. They taste of nothing but the pickling liquid. Pickling as a means of preserving and transforming, is fine for cucumbers, cabbage and other ordinary vegetables. Fiddleheads should be eaten fresh, in the early Spring, when they are sublime, and then not until the next year.

I did have another type of fern, picked inadvertently along with some ostrich fiddleheads, and tasted it cooked, just to see. It was indeed, very bitter.

I've gotten fiddleheads a couple of times this Spring, at Trader Joe's, for $2.99 for about a half pound in a package, which said they were from Maine. I had to pick through the packages to find one that was less browned than the others, but other than trimming the end and rinsing, there was little prep. And they were delicious. I used to forage for them when I lived in Vermont, where they were very popular--and heard at the time that they were offered in high-falutin' restaurants in Boston at very high prices. This was thirty years ago, so if they are the "new, hot thing" in DC, it's taken a long time for them to travel down here. Pickled fiddleheads taste only of the pickling liquid. A complete waste of fiddleheads IMHO.

They had these yesterday at my Trader Joe's as well - they were very fresh, but I was told it was the last shipment. I sauteed them in butter with the spring garlic I'd gotten at the local farmers' market, added a little honey, and finished with a squeeze of lime. They made a novel, crunchy green side dish.

I scored some fresh fiddleheads at Wegmans the weenend before last. I served them steamed, with a "Chesapeake Hollandaise" alongside my crabcakes. They were delicious!

I remember finding them at my local Giant about 10+ years ago--maybe even longer ago than that. I don't even remember how we figured out what to do with them, but we sauteed them in butter with garlic, as I recall. I always buy them when I see them, as long as they're fresh.

I haven't seen ramps at all this year, but I guess I haven't been shopping in the right places.

I stopped into the Giant around the corner from Two Amy's after dinner tonight, to mollify the parking lot guard who called me 'Mama' and at first said I couldn't park in the lot, then relented when I said I was going to the Giant. I headed toward the store, and he said I could go to Two Amy's first. I figured I'd buy a couple of onions, which I can always use. Imagine my surprise when I found a bin of fresh-looking fiddleheads. No price on the shelf. I bagged up a nice amount and headed for the checkstand. Surprise, surprise, the checker didn't have a clue. I told her what they were. She looked in the produce code guide. Nothing. She asked a fellow checker--he didn't know what they were either. She went and got a clerk from the produce department, and he said he hadn't seen them before. He suggested to her that she charge me as if they were green beans. $2 a pound. I should have gone back for more.

Much to my surprise, I found fresh fiddleheads at Balducci's today. $10/lb. Still...I bought half a pound for dinner tonite. My dad used to forage for them when I was a kid but I've never seen them in a store before . Just had to buy some...

I saw them at the Old Town Whole Foods on Sunday. I've never had them, I should give 'em a try.

I saw them at TJ's last year but haven't been recently to say they are there for certain this year (the one on Rt 29)

I was at the Foggy Bottom TJ's yesterday, and there weren't any fiddleheads yet. If you get them when they first go on display, they are in good condition. And the price is generally very reasonable. They seem to get them from Canada.

I saw them at TJ's last year but haven't been recently to say they are there for certain this year (the one on Rt 29)

I bought some at the TJs in Reston yesterday. $2.99 for a pint container.

A friend said to me yesterday that fiddleheads were carcinogenic, which I had never heard before. It doesn't appear to be the case across the board with all varieties of edible fern, but some food-borne illness outbreaks in the 90's suggest that it is not wise to eat undercooked fiddleheads.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead#Health_effects

I only tried fiddleheads once, pickled, bringing home a few jars after a trip to Maine.

Don't remember anything unpleasant; they basically tasted like pickles, but with an unfamiliar range of textures. Nothing inspired me to buy them since.

Now, I am curious. Do they compare to anything?

What do you do with fresh ones?

Pickled fiddleheads just taste of whatever is in the pickling liquid. We used to forage for them in the Spring in Vermont. The first time I had them, they were steamed and served with hollandaise and tasted like the best asparagus I'd ever eaten. Since then, I have just served them steamed with butter and lemon. I bought some nice-looking fresh Canadian fiddleheads yesterday at Balducci's, though we didn't eat them last night because of my friend's concerns. I might try roasting them in the oven, which is now my preferred way to cook asparagus.

I just got back from Trader Joe's with a nice-looking pint of fiddleheads for $2.99. I paid about $5 several weeks ago at WF for less than half that amount, and these are smaller and tighter (read: greater quantity for the volume).

Mitsitam cafe at the National Museum of the American Indian was serving fiddlehead salad a couple of springs ago--I haven't been there in a while, so I don't know if they are currently on the menu.