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| A 7' long Bracken Fern |
More Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum) experimenting…. I harvested several rhizomes from Dad’s property in rich loose soil under Red Alder (Alnus
rubra). The fronds are mostly dead and are starting
to topple over. I stretched one upward to
its full extent and it measured 7’ tall.
The rhizomes are also quite large, but I wasn’t able to unearth an
entire one although I got a few pieces that were more than 2’ long. I washed the rhizomes and brought them home
to cook. I initially steamed about 1/3 of the
rhizomes for an hour.
When they cooled they had a molasses like aroma and I peeled one with a carrot peeler and found
the peelings to be very sticky on the inner surfaces. Without further preparation I chewing on the
rhizome and found the initial flavor sweet.
As I chewed an unpleasant bitter flavor dominated and I spat it all
out. So far the smell and the taste are
similar to my limited experiences with Wood Fern (Dryopteris expansa) rhizomes.
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| Bracken Fern rhizome cross section |
Using the base of a heavy wooden spoon, I
pounded the remaining portion of the peeled rhizome and was easily able to separate
the dark central fibers from the rest of the rhizome. I picked through the pounded rhizome strands
and tasted some pieces that didn’t have any dark fibers and found their flavor agreeable,
which leads me to believe that the bitter flavor is concentrated in the dark
colored fibers in the rhizome. I finally
feel like I am making some progress on the Bracken Fern front.
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| Peeled Bracken Fern rhizome |
I continued steaming the remaining rhizomes
from my first batch for another hour and peeled them. They now have a smell reminiscent of potato
chips. I will let them dry for a day or
two in the hope that the dry starch will pulverize into flour while the dark fibers
remain intact enough to be separated with a sieve.
 |
| Pounded Bracken Fern rhizome |
More Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum) experimenting…. I harvested several rhizomes from Dad’s property in rich loose soil under Red Alder (Alnus
rubra). The fronds are mostly dead and are starting
to topple over. I stretched one upward to
its full extent and it measured 7’ tall.
The rhizomes are also quite large, but I wasn’t able to unearth an
entire one although I got a few pieces that were more than 2’ long. I washed the rhizomes and brought them home
to cook. I initially steamed about 1/3 of the
rhizomes for an hour.
When they cooled they had a molasses like aroma and I peeled one with a carrot peeler and found
the peelings to be very sticky on the inner surfaces. Without further preparation I chewing on the
rhizome and found the initial flavor sweet.
As I chewed an unpleasant bitter flavor dominated and I spat it all
out. So far the smell and the taste are
similar to my limited experiences with Wood Fern (Dryopteris expansa) rhizomes.
