Ever had a poorly prepared fiddlehead? If you ended up with a slimy mouthful of starch you did. This starch was the reason I never understood why people went so crazy over fiddleheads. Almost every time I ordered a dish with fiddleheads they had slimy character. Then I moved to Portland, Oregon. The land of the fiddleheads. It was in Portland where I learned that when cooked properly a fiddlehead has a really crisp, green taste. It tastes like a perfect spring day.
So one day not too long ago, I was thinking about all the goo in fiddleheads and it made me think of okra. When cooked in a certain manner okra also has that same starchy, slimy texture...but okra's starch is put to good use in such dishes as gumbo. The starch helps to create a rich and thick broth. Could we use fiddleheads in the same manner? It turns out you can. Last night we prepared a stone crab and halibut gumbo using fiddleheads in place of okra. It was a huge success and I am now toying with the idea of a plat du jour-Valley Spring Gumbo, made with only items from the pioneer valley...
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