photo of bracken fern

Ah, bracken. Much prettier in winter when it’s brown, don’t you think?

I had no idea that bracken is edible, but Wikipedia’s bracken article notes that:

Bracken fiddleheads (the immature, tightly curled emerging fronds) have been considered edible by many cultures throughout history, and are still commonly used today as a foodstuff. Bracken fiddleheads are either consumed fresh (and cooked) or preserved by salting, pickling, or sun drying. In Korea, where they are called gosari namul, they are a typical ingredient in the mixed rice dish called bibimbap.

Both fronds and rhizomes have been used to brew beer, and the rhizome starch has been used as a substitute for arrowroot. Bread can be made out of dried and powered rhizomes alone or with other flour. American Indians cooked the rhizomes, then peeled and ate them or pounded the starchy fiber into flour. In Japan, starch from the rhizomes is used to make confections.

Bracken is called wiwnunmí útpas ‘huckleberry’s blanket’ by the Umatilla Indians of the Columbia River in the United States Northwest. The fronds were used to cover a basket full of huckleberries in order to keep them fresh. [continue]

The bits about bracken being edible are interesting enough, but did you catch that bit about braken being used to brew beer? Now that has potential.

I noticed the other day that the Gabriola Winery has now become the Gabriola Winery and Distillery: this year they’ve made brandy and absinthe in addition to wine. Maybe they’d like to become a brewery, too! Then they could make some bracken-fern beer for the rest of us to try.

Or hmmm, maybe the new Gabriola Linux Users’ Group would like to try beer-making as a sideline. After all, the acronym of their name is GLUG, and Linux and beer do tend to crop up together. I’m sure they’d love the idea of open source beer.

Tags: , ,