Jason and I lived in South Korea and in Japan when we were first married. One of our favorite small dishes that was placed at our table in some restaurants was a pickled fiddlehead fern or steamed fiddlhead ferns in a garlic sauce. I've thought about these dishes for years and have wondered which ferns were harvested. Imagine my delight to find an article on a new online journal that I joined recently about fiddleheads! http://www.thegardenerseden.com is a delightful online journal about gardening. I follow them on facebook.
I did some quick research at google.com and found the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) seems to be the most popular fern listed for harvest in the U.S. The gardeners eden also mentions the Cinnamon fern, (Osmunda cinnamomea). Stay tuned for more information on this subject. I will be looking for some Ostrich ferns to add to the yardstead's growing edible gardens. Go check out the article at the Gardener's Eden website (beautiful pictures and a recipe)!