Why are people so crazy about fiddleheads? One man in Monroe can’t explain exactly why, but he’s got no shortage of customers clamoring for them.

John Gibbs has been collecting these wild edibles every spring with his father ever since he was a kid and now ships them to aficionados around the country.

A fiddlehead is the young, tender shoot of a fern that some have described has the texture of green beans or asparagus with the earthy, slightly bitter taste of mustard greens. They can be sautéed in butter, olive oil and lots of garlic, steamed, fried and even served in soups. The reason they are called fiddleheads is because the curled tips of the immature fern resemble the top of a fiddle. Like Moxie soda, it’s definitely an acquired taste and many folks look forward to this delicacy every year.

The growing period of fiddleheads is such a short time in Maine, typically early spring to the beginning of summer and the demand is high. Gibbs is currently collecting them and selling them through his networks, on eBay and to local restaurants.

“The window to get them is so short that if you could somehow get them year-round, they wouldn’t be so fascinating to people,” he said.

“Often times in the peak of the collecting season we’ll get a cold night and the frost will kill them off,” he said. Despite the cold, rainy spring season that has been plaguing most gardeners and farmers this spring, the fiddlehead has survived. “This year, we didn’t get a frost, so we’re doing pretty well.”

Asked where he likes to go collecting them, Gibbs joked, “I learned a long time ago not even to tell my good friends where I go, so I’m not telling you!”

Gibbs picks them by hand and collects them in a basket. Over the years his father has rigged together a motorized fiddlehead cleaner which uses forced air from a squirrel cage blower with parts of a washing machine. “It is pretty easy to make if you have the time and Yankee ingenuity,” he said.

Gibbs warns people to know their ferns well before attempting to pick fiddleheads themselves. “Not all fiddleheads are edible,” he said. “Some are fuzzy and furry; some are wiry.” It’s best to buy them from a supermarket or from a forager such as Gibbs, for the wrong kind can be toxic.

For people from away who crave the elusive delicacy, Gibbs has been shipping fiddleheads all over the country from New York to Las Vegas. All he has to do is vacuum pack them and ship them out. “They’re pretty hearty,” he explained. “They’ll be just as fresh when they arrive.”

“I had a guy order six pounds of them from Virginia and we were emailing back and forth when he told me he used to have fiddleheads as a kid and he used to pick them with his uncle in Monroe, Maine,” he said. “Well, of course, his uncle is my neighbor, being the small world that it is.”

Gibbs’ fiancee co-owns the Front Street Pub in Belfast and not only does he provide the restaurant with their fiddleheads, he’s even given them his mother’s prized Fiddlehead Chowder recipe, below.

Front Street Pub Fiddlehead Chowder

·1 ½ cups chopped fiddleheads

·3 chicken bouillon cubes

·Small onion

·2 tbsp butter

·2 potatoes

·3.5 cups milk

·½ cup heavy cream

·Salt and pepper to taste

Cook potatoes until fork soft but not mushy. In pan, sauté fiddleheads and onions with butter, bouillon, and salt and pepper until soft and onions are clear. Add milk and heavy cream, slowly bring to boil. Add potatoes and turn off heat.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com