Canadian food DYK: Tide Head, New Brunswick is the fiddlehead capital of the world

This teeny village in New Brunswick dubs itself the fiddlehead capital of the world

Image for Canadian food DYK: Tide Head, New Brunswick is the fiddlehead capital of the world
photo courtesy of Dana Moos.

Each spring, a fiddlehead frenzy takes over this roughly 1,000-resident New Brunswick village. The unfurled fronds of young ostrich fern plants, which resembles the scroll on a fiddle, pop up along marshy river banks outside of Tide Head in the nearby islands on the Restigouche River (among other places). Locals take advantage of the short harvesting window each year from the middle of May to the first week of June, and go “fiddleheading” to forage for the popular springtime vegetable.

For that oh-so short, but oh-so sweet, amount of time, you’ll find fiddleheads at most restaurants, farmers markets, roadside stands, food trucks and everything else in between.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of trying this unique vegetable, you've missed them for the season. Make a note to try them in 2020 or plan to head out to Tide Head to see the fiddlehead frenzy in full force!