A tasty dish that you can make is Fiddlehead Fern Akutaq. Fiddlehead ferns grow in the spring and are harvested before they unfurl. The ferns are usually covered with papery brown flakes and can be found growing in grassy, bush and tree areas. To harvest you simply snap them off at the base or along the stem, leaving the root in the ground. Don’t pick them if they’ve bloomed.
Ferns can be found by looking for last year’s brown fern fronds.
According to the Guide to the Ethnobotany of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Region by Kevin Jernigan, fiddlehead ferns can be eaten in different ways.
“The fiddleheads are edible before they unfurl. They are harvested in the spring when they first sprout and then cooked. Elders often gather them at fish camps. A toothbrush can be used to clean the hairs off the fiddleheads before cooking. The fiddleheads can be put in seal meat soup, or cooked and diced to put in akutaq. They are also good steamed or fried in butter. One elder noted that roots of young ferns can also be put in soup. Elders agreed that no part of older plants is edible. Medicine: One elder said the brown hairs on the fiddle heads are good for cleaning the intestines.”
The Yugtun Eskimo names for fiddlehead ferns are: cetupaguaq (Kuskokwim, meaning “fake long fingernails”), cetuguat (coastal, Yukon), and ceturqaaraat (Nelson Island).
To make your akutaq, clean and rinse your fiddlehead ferns. Cleaning them may take time since the paper scales are stuck onto the fern. Some folks use a metal scrubbie or their preferred method. Next boil them for 20 minutes stirring them occasionally. Drain and cool your ferns.
Fiddlehead Fern Akutaq
Boiled, drained, and cooled fiddlehead ferns
Crisco
Sugar
½ cup mashed potato flakes and hot water (optional)
Large mixing bowl
Additions: raisins, craisins, cut up strawberries, blueberries, salmonberries, drained fruit cocktail, or other cut-up fruits such as mango or canned peaches.
Puree your cooked and cooled fiddlehead ferns in a blender or chop them up with an uluaq on a cutting board until they are finely processed and not stringy.
Mix your Crisco – about 1 to 1 ½ cups, sugar, and your mashed potatoes and whip it up like you would do when making akutaq. This tastes really good, like icing. Add in your fern puree and do a sugar taste test. Add more sugar if needed. Next fold in your optional ingredients – your fruits and mix. Do a taste test and you are done.
Making fiddlehead fern akutaq is a labor of love. Your hard work will result in a delicious dessert which tastes unlike any other akutaq you’ve ever tried.
Akutaq makers have their own methods and ingredients. This recipe is just one way to do it.
Be the first to comment