It’s fiddlehead time!

Spring is the most exciting time in Quebec. The winter is officially over and we’re seeing some bright light green colours here and there and we’re all craving vitamins! Well, spring is also the fiddleheads season! We already have them available on the Marketplace and this week we’ll show you how this seasonal delicacy is harvested, washed, packaged and shipped from Produits De Nos Bois in Asbestos to your table.

Nick Secord founded Produits De Nos Bois, NorCliff Farms Inc’s sister family, in 1973. Nick was born and raised in New Brunswick. For New Brunswick, fiddleheads are what the maple leaf is to the rest of Canada, so it’s no surprise Nick started his company. What started off as a small company, today is the largest producer and packer of fiddleheads in North America, shipping our seasonal delicacy internationally as well as locally. "Fiddleheads have no-cides" Nick says. "No herbicides, fungicides or pesticides are used. Fiddleheads grow in the woods in the wild nature" he continued.

What’s amazing is that this delicacy not only has a great taste, but it’s also packed with nutritional values. Fiddleheads have twice the antioxidant activity of blueberries. They are comparable to spinach in ascorbate and protein content. They are also a great source of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids! And on top of all of that, fiddleheads are a high source of iron, fibre, niacin, vitamin A and C, potassium, riboflavin, calcium and phosphorus, which is exactly what we need after a long cold Quebec winter!

The fiddlehead season in Quebec officially starts around April 6. Fiddleheads are a seasonal delicacy in many parts of Canada. They are the curled, edible shoots of the ostrich fern and due to the lack of knowledge on cooking methods many Canadians get food poisoning each year so read this before cooking them.

“When the season starts, we have so many people working like bees in a beehive. One washing, one cleaning, another one packaging and so on. It’s amazing to see them all at work at once!” Nick exclaims. It all starts with the pickers who go into the woods to search for those tiny bright green fiddleheads among grey dried leaves, grass and tree trunks. Step one is to take the brown dried leaves off of your fiddleheads, then to wash them and then they are packaged and shipped. 

This year we went with Michael, a fiddlehead picker with over 30 years of experience, into the woods in Asbestos to see where it all starts and how it happens. Michael and other pickers go out to the woods for a few hours. “A good picker will pick three to four pockets worth of fiddleheads a day” he explained. Every picker has a well-known territory that he visits year after year. 

“Around a female plant, for example, you will always find a bunch of fiddleheads peeking through the grey mass of dried grass and tree trunks”, Michael continued. “You have to pick them by hand because if you cut it with a knife you may damage the plant and it’s not good for the future growth, so you pick them one by one. It’s a true adventure,” Michael exclaimed.

At the end of the day, when the bucket is full, the pickers return with their treasure and then the process of cleaning and washing at Produits De Nos Bois starts. 

Fiddleheads are simply delicious and although this is only a seasonal delicacy, you can store them for about a year. See some guidelines on cooking and storing your fiddleheads here.

Happy eating!