Eating on the Wild Side

4 May 2009 | Featured in: Feature Articles, Recipes

If you’re like me, you’re relieved Spring is finally here and with it – some new fresh ingredients. My cravings this time of year turn to rhubarb, strawberries, asparagus – and for some reason a powerful urge for fiddlehead ferns. But fiddlehead ferns are not cultivated – they are instead found on the floor of many beautiful forest trails. Where to find these wild goodies?

Wild vegetables can be found in in the woods, fields, and meadows of rural and even suburban areas. In fact, you can grow some of the more popular varieties in a shade garden in your own backyard. However, finding them is fun and requires only a personal commitment to self-education, a great photo manual, and a willingness to explore.

There are a few mail order sources for wild vegetables. I recently ran across a reference to MarxFoods‘ Wild Produce Sampler, so I picked up the phone and gave them a call. I spoke with Justin Marx who, with his two brothers and father, own and run the New Jersey-based company. I gratefully accepted shipment of the sampler within a week – just in time to entertain guests for this year’s very early Spring Easter dinner.

The sampler included fiddleheads, stinging nettles, ramps, and miner’s lettuce. These are all plants that grow wild (to the best of my knowledge none are cultivated commercially) and are among the first spring greens.

Fiddlehead Ferns
Fiddleheads have an asparagus flavor to them. It’s not a precise match, but they’ll remind you of really fresh asparagus. They can be tough so some precooking is called for. They are medium to dark green and stand on a short or tall slender stalk. They edible part is the “fiddlehead” – so named because the coil looks like the scroll of a violin. They taste great raw, in a stir fry, or with pasta. Although wild, they are popular in the Northeast and can be found at local farmer’s markets.

Fresh Ramps
Ramps are essentially wild leeks that taste like a perfect cross between onion and garlic. They grow and then disappear / take a new form very quickly so they can look like a small scallion to a larger, flat leafy scallion. Their odor and flavor is more potent, but becomes milder when cooked. They are a great choice for grilling and other high-heat cooking methods such as sauteing. Ramps are readily available in the Southern US where they grow in hardwood forests. They are such a treat! be sure to ask for them at your farmer’s market or take a hike before the end of May.

Miner's Lettuce
Miner’s lettuce is similar in flavor and cooking character to spinach, but milder in flavor. It’s great raw or cook this delicate green gently and quickly. It grows in the Northwest US. Notice it only gets a minute in a skillet in the recipe below.

Wild Vegetable Medley Recipe
Chef Kevin Weeks
Serves 6.

Ingredients

1/2 lb fiddlehead ferns – picked over, trimmed, and cleaned

1/2 lb ramps – trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces including the lower part of the greens

1/4 lb pancetta -cut into 1/4-inch cubes

2 anchovy filets – minced

1/2 lb miner’s lettuce

Method
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook fiddleheads for 5 minutes. Transfer ferns to a bowl of ice water to stop cooking, drain, and pat dry. At this point the fiddleheads can stored in the refrigerator overnight.

Cook the pancetta in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until the fat begins to render – about 2 minutes. Add ramps and minced anchovy and cook, tossing occasionally, until ramps begin to brown – about 3 minutes. Add miner’s lettuce, cover, and cook 1 minute longer until lettuce begins to wilt. Serve immediately.

There is no salt called for because both the pancetta and anchovies provide salt. The pancetta I used was my own and was cured with herbs and spices so I didn’t add any additional flavorings. If you use store-bought pancetta adding a bit of chopped rosemary and thyme as well as some pepper would be a good idea. Last, MarxFoods hadn’t gotten in any ramps yet and so I subbed scallions.

Stinging nettles are smallish green plants (about 12-inches tall) with mint-shaped leaves and small spines along the stems. These spines are like hypodermic needles and when they prick you deliver a stinging chemical – so why did anyone think to eat them? They’re one of the first green vegetables to appear in the spring and fortunately a short bath in boiling water (around five minutes) disables both the spines, which get soft, and the stinging chemical. Cooked, they have a flavor most reminiscent of spinach but slightly wilder. They really are delicious and if you’re careful to wear dish-washing gloves while handling them you won’t get stung. As for the nettles, I cooked them just for myself dressed simply with butter and a splash of cider vinegar. Delicious.