They reminded me of over-cooked asparagus (after cooking them for the prescribed 10 minutes of boiling). Back in the 1990's a few people got sick on the east coast after eating ostrich fiddleheads that had been "under-cooked" in restaraunts, so a recommendation was created that you need to boil them for at least 10 minutes.

While researching ostrich ferns I read somewhere that ostrich fiddleheads are the Vermont State vegetable.

You need to be careful to insure you have the correct variety... since there are at least 3 look-alike varieties that have cancer causing chemicals in them and are not recommended for consumption.
Key indicators that it is an ostrich fern (that I can remember off the top of my head) are:
* Grows in a clump
* Tends to like boggy soil (especially in my yard)
* Grow to something like 4 feet tall
* (IMPORTANT) There is a groove in the fern stalk
* In the fall they send up a nicely colored fern head for seed production or something
* Deciduous (dies back in winter)

After buying an Ostrich fern from a nursery and educating myself more about them, I discovered that I had at least 30 mature plants growing wild in my yard. :)

I find the ostrich ferns to be a bit more delicate then the other varieties that grow wild in my yard.... in that the stalks tend to break much more easily.

While I haven't purchased any of the above from them, I have purchased other gourmet items from them & the quality/shipping/etc. is very good.

I've heard of people freezing or canning the fiddle heads... though personally none of mine have made it that far and have just been consumed. :)