Fiddlehead Soup

I can understand why fiddleheads became such a popular food. They would have been the first edible green thing anyone had seen in months. To me thay have an odd 'mouth feel" but not an unpleasant flavour. For this recipe you can easily substitute asparagus.

500 grams fiddleheads
1 medium onion, cisler (chopped)
100 ml white wine
1.5 liter chicken or vegetable stock
15 ml Herbes Salee*
lemon juice
butter
sour cream

*Herbes Salee is an Acadian or Quebecois perserve consisting of carrots, parsely, onions, leeks, savoury and a great deal of salt. I bought some on our last trip to Quebec, thinking it was a pickle, but it turns out to be a garnish. It has a much sharper flavour than dried herbs.

Pick through the fiddleheads and choose a dozen or so small, tight attractive heads for decoration. Trim them and put them aside in the fridge.

Sweat the onions in butter until they are soft. Add the white wine and reduce to a glaze. Add the chicken stock and fiddleheads and Herbes Salee and bring to a simmer. cook until the fiddleheads are soft.

Using an immersion blender, stand blender or food processer blend the soup as thoroughly as possible. No matter how well your equipment works, there will be lots of detritus left in the liquid. To eliminate this, work the liquid through a seive. It will take some effort to work the liquid out of the solids, but it will be worth it. Gently work the solids with the back of a spoon until you've extracted all the liquid. Dispose of the solids.

Put the liquid in a pot, taste and add some lemon juice. Just enough to brighten up the soup. To serve, bring the soup to a simmer, add the fiddleheads you've set aside and cook until just tender-crisp. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

For asparagus, cut off the white parts and dispose of them. cut off the tips and set aside. Chop the stalks into one inch pieces and proceed as above.