Fiddlehead ferns grow wild in some parts of the country. In others, they're the type of product you're more likely to find -- and probably pay top dollar for -- at an upscale grocery store. Some farm-to-table restaurant suppliers sell them too, charging over $23 per pound for these trendy greens. Is it a scam if a farm-to-table restaurant claims it foraged its ferns when it simply ordered them online? That may be neither here nor there, but if you're shelling out big bucks on a vegetable -- whether in the produce department or a hipster bistro -- you'll want to make sure it's properly cooked. And cooked these ferns must be, since not only do raw fiddleheads have an unpleasantly bitter flavor, but they can also be dangerous to consume.
Researchers have yet to identify the toxin in fiddlehead ferns, but in 1994, several dozen people in upstate New York and Canada were reportedly sickened by eating raw or undercooked fiddleheads, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among the symptoms they experienced were abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. The effects lasted from several hours to several days and started, on average, about six hours after eating the ferns.