What two steps are required for briefly blanching fiddleheads to preserve them for freezing?
Answer
Boiling for two minutes followed by an immediate ice water bath
For foragers who harvest more than they can immediately use, preservation through freezing is possible, but it requires a specific preliminary step called blanching to maintain quality. To achieve this proper blanching for freezing, the procedure involves boiling the fiddleheads briefly for only two minutes. Immediately following this short boil, they must be transferred to an ice water bath to halt the cooking process instantly. This process preserves their quality sufficiently so they can be frozen successfully, potentially maintaining usability for up to ten months.
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