# Have you ever tried Dryopteris filis max?



## radhuni (Feb 20, 2013)

Today I will prepare fried _Dryopteris,_ it's a fern. We call it 'dheki shak' in India.

I should have given the photo before chopping the fern. Now I will fry it in mustard oil.


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## Dawgluver (Feb 20, 2013)

radhuni said:


> Today I will prepare fried Dryopteris, it's a fern. We call it 'dheki shak' in India.
> 
> I should have given the photo before chopping the fern. Now I will fry it in mustard oil.



You've stumbled on a gold mine, Radhuni!  Here they're call "fiddleheads" , and hard to find!  We will have to look for them in the woods after the snow storm goes by and the ground thaws.  If you have a recipe, please post it.


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## radhuni (Feb 21, 2013)

It is common here but more common in my husbands place (upper Assam - near Himalaya mountain and with heavy rainfall throughout the year). You can find lots of this fern, my mother-in-laws garden full of 'fiddleheads'.

I know several recipes with fiddlehead, the best one is fiddlehead prepare with pork. It has a wild and stinging taste and it is also very easy to prepare.


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## radhuni (Feb 21, 2013)

Do you want dryopteris? I can send it to you if the postal charge is not high, let find the postal charge.


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## 4meandthem (Feb 21, 2013)

Are you sure? Those don't look the fiddleheads I have had. I have only had them half a dozen times though and never picked them.

The scientific name I found for them is *Matteuccia struthhiopteris*


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## 4meandthem (Feb 21, 2013)

I had to copy/paste the name.There was no way!


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## radhuni (Feb 21, 2013)

4meandthem said:


> Are you sure? Those don't look the fiddleheads I have had. I have only had them half a dozen times though and never picked them.
> 
> The scientific name I found for them is *Matteuccia struthhiopteris*



I don't know whether it is fiddlehead or not but I am sure it is _Dryopteris filis-max_.


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## Andy M. (Feb 21, 2013)

This part of a fern is a fiddlehead.  It's the start of a new fern frond and if left alone it will grow into a "branch".  Fiddleheads come from various fern types.

It looks like Radhuni is cooking the entire fern green.


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## Janet H (Feb 21, 2013)

Interesting.  here's a note about safety with fiddle heads and a video
The University of Maine - Cooperative Extension Publications - Bulletin #4198, Facts on Fiddleheads


Fiddleheads Edible & Poisonous By Tajeanhus Herbs - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2yEdUkx8UQ

How to Freeze Fiddleheads - YouTube

Stay safe - and make certain you know what you're eating.

I'm thinking that the OPs ferns are more like the Sword fern (_Nephrolepis cordifolia_) which can be eaten, including the tubers under the ground.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Feb 21, 2013)

Both of those names sound like fishing flies to me.  I pick fiddle heads occasionally.  We have only one kind of fern around here.  They are tasty.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## Dawgluver (Feb 21, 2013)

radhuni said:


> Do you want dryopteris? I can send it to you if the postal charge is not high, let find the postal charge.



That is a sweet and generous offer, Radhuni!  Thank you so much, but I better not accept.  Our agriculture import rules are pretty strict here.

Your second picture does look like our fiddleheads, which are as has been said, an immature fern stage of various varieties of fern, including Dryopteris.  

Good info here, and a very interesting thread!  I grow probably 8 different varieties of fern in the garden, and we have a number of different kinds growing wild out in the timber.  They're quite expensive when purchased, a short growing season.


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## Claire (Feb 21, 2013)

Never even heard of it, but looking at it, I have had ferns that look like that (the unopened ones, that is), I think they were fiddle-head, and if I remember right, I think stir-fried, in Hawaii.  Oh, I didn't finish the line.  I haven't seen them in a store or restaurant since.  Seems to me (20 years ago!) they had a bit of a green-bean-ish flavor, nice texture.  I know my mom was impressed.


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## radhuni (Feb 21, 2013)

Dawgluver said:


> That is a sweet and generous offer, Radhuni!  Thank you so much, but I better not accept.  Our agriculture import rules are pretty strict here.



How can it violate agriculture import rule, I am not exporting anything, it is a gift not trade. Please don't get me wrong.


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## Andy M. (Feb 21, 2013)

radhuni said:


> How can it violate agriculture import rule, I am not exporting anything, it is a gift not trade. Please don't get me wrong.



This has nothing to do with trade vs. gifting.

US import regulations forbid bringing agricultural products into the USA for fear of introducing biological pests/diseases to our crops.


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## Claire (Feb 21, 2013)

.... and some states have strict laws about bringing in fresh fruit/vegs/plants from other states.  California, Hawaii, sometimes Florida, sometimes Arizona (just out of my memory from traveling).  This, as Andy said, has nothing to do with import/export financial laws.  It has to do with bringing what might be diseased vegetation into a place that has a healthy crop.  In other words, you cannot bring an orange you bought in Arizona or Florida into the state of California, and vice versa (unless laws have change, and they might have).  I know in Florida when you bought a citrus tree, it was registered to your address, and if something happened with that lot #, the agriculture department would come, dig it up, and destroy it before it could pass on diseases to the orchards and obliterate an entire orange (grapefruit, etc) crop.  My sis complained that they confiscated her two orange trees, but there was a grapefruit tree in her yard when she bought the house, and she hated grapefruit.  "Why couldn't it have been the grapefruit?"  Well, the grapefruit was old and established and been there long before she bought the property!  I can remember when we'd cross country by car (something I've done dozens, maybe hundreds, of times in my life) as a kid, it was, pull over at the last rest stop before the state line and eat fruit until you're full, because the rest will be confiscated!


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## Dawgluver (Feb 21, 2013)

Thanks,  guys, for the great explanation.  I've had fruit confiscated going back across the Canada border to the States.  When we go to Mexico, there's a fruit/veg sniffing dog at the airport that goes from suitcase to suitcase after you retrieve your stuff from the luggage belt.

And again, Radhuni, thank you for your generous offer!  Your pictures and recipes are gifts enough!


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## Snip 13 (Feb 22, 2013)

I've been wanting to try these for months but I can't find them anywhere 
I love wild foods!


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## Snip 13 (Feb 22, 2013)

Forgot to say thank you for the Green Chutney Recipe you gave me a while back. Loved it!!!!!! I couldn't find the thread you posted the recipe in when I looked for it. Luckily I have the recipes safely copied


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## radhuni (Feb 22, 2013)

Dawgluver said:


> And again, Radhuni, thank you for your generous offer!  Your pictures and recipes are gifts enough!



Thanks, now I get it.

Pork and fiddlehead recipe (it is not an traditional Indian recipe, it more like Chinese or Tibetan recipe, my husband's community are Chinese immigrants. Most of the Indians don't eat pork. My mom also got annoyed when she learned that I cook pork in my place.)

Boil 500 gm of boneless pork completely.
Heat a small amount of oil in a pan and 250 gm chopped onion, 10-12 cloves chopped garlic and the boiled pork, cook it in low flame with cover stir occasionally
When the pork is almost done just add 100 gm chopped fiddlehead and cook for a while.
When the fiddlehead become soft and fried increase the heat and stir for a minute.
Then turn off the heat and let it stand for 15 min and it is ready.

But you should have it with plain rice to enjoy the taste.

I will post a picture of the dish when I will prepare, I try to avoid prepare pork in summer.


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## radhuni (Feb 22, 2013)

Snip 13 said:


> Forgot to say thank you for the Green Chutney Recipe you gave me a while back. Loved it!!!!!! I couldn't find the thread you posted the recipe in when I looked for it. Luckily I have the recipes safely copied



Thank you, here is the link of the thread:
http://www.discusscooking.com/forum...s-you-love-and-the-ones-you-hate-82184-5.html

If want more recipe do ask me.


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