Posted on 12/27/2012 7:01:55 AM PST by COBOL2Java
Chris Dorff, president of Olsen Fish Co. in Minneapolis, holds pieces of dried ling cod from Norway before it is made into lutefisk. While America’s foodie culture has inspired a new generation of chefs who have created gourmet delicacies from ethnic food traditions, lutefisk — a dried white cod reconstituted in caustic chemicals — is one heritage dish that has remained stubbornly unimproved.(Associated Press)
“Butter helps it slide down your throat,” said Dennis Voss, the husband of a Norwegian-American, revealing his own survival secret for stomaching the gelatinous blob as they dined with friends on lutefisk amid a bustling lunchtime crowd.
America’s rising foodie culture has inspired a new generation of chefs and adventurous eaters who have mined ethnic and antiquated food traditions to create gourmet delicacies. Even Scandinavian cuisine, not usually considered the most savory, is sharing the spotlight. It is winning plaudits at restaurants from Minneapolis’ nationally recognized Bachelor Farmer to Copenhagen’s world-renowned Noma, where globe-trotting diners wait months for reservations.
Lutefisk is prepared for packaging at the Olsen Fish Co. processing plant in Minneapolis. The fish — dried white cod reconstituted in caustic chemicals — lives on despite derision where people of Scandinavian descent are numerous. (Associated Press)
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Second best lutefisk dinner in the country is First Lutheran Duluth Mn. Supervised by Bea Ojakangas,.
First is my brother’s house.
Charles, thought you might enjoy!
Guy calls the county agent and says he has a family of skunks living under his house and would like to get rid of them. Agent tells him that skunks can't stand the smell of lutefisk and he should throw them under the house.
Guy calls back about a week later to report the skunks have moved on, but he now has another problem: how to get rid of the Norskies now living under his house.
Geez.
Anyone doing Smalahove? (The second most disgusting Norwegian Christmas dish).
This MN native was never able to acquire a taste for it but I know many who enjoy it.
People think flavor is made up of smell, taste, and sight. History is also an important factor in the appreciation of any food.
How many people enjoyed their first cup of coffee. It takes some history with the product to appreciate it’s qualities.
It’s = its. I know the difference and how much using it wrong bugs some people.
As I am a Swede I especially appreciate Norwegian jokes.
UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA
Lutefisk: The piece of cod that passeth understanding.
Breakfast of Champions
Lutefisk, Creamed Herring on Lefse, Fatback and Collared Greens
Black Norwegian
bookmark
Lol. I’ve suffered many yearly smalahove banquets, and I’m very pleased they’re over for my part. Looking at people scarfing down brain and soot from cremated sheep heads and cnecking if the neighbour has an extra eye to spare is, well... special ;).
I have a friend who went back to the old country. The relatives there said “you guys actually eat that stuff?”
They didn’t make cod like that because it tasted good. They made it because the only way to keep cod before refrigeration was to dry it. And you can’t eat dried cod, it’s as hard as a board. So they put it through the lye process to reconstitute it. It was food for the very poor.
My theory about why it became a Christmas tradition is the old immigrant woman started getting homesick about that time of the year and the old immigrant man made them eat lutifisk to remind them why they left.
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