Legend of lutefisk lives on despite enduring ‘yuck’ factor

The Washington Times ^ | 27 December 2012 | AP

[DManA]

Second best lutefisk dinner in the country is First Lutheran Duluth Mn. Supervised by Bea Ojakangas,.

First is my brother’s house.

[Responsibility2nd]

A Moose ate my Lutefisk once.

[COBOL2Java]

Charles, thought you might enjoy!

[Vigilanteman]

My Dad used to tell me this joke:

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.

[Hardraade]

Geez.

Anyone doing Smalahove? (The second most disgusting Norwegian Christmas dish).

[ContraryMary]

This MN native was never able to acquire a taste for it but I know many who enjoy it.

[DManA]

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.

[DManA]

It’s = its. I know the difference and how much using it wrong bugs some people.

[DManA]

As I am a Swede I especially appreciate Norwegian jokes.

[Kartographer]

"I do not like lutefisk and yams/I do not like them Sven-I-Am".

[Average Al]

My parents used to drag us to eat this stuff. I ate the
bread and butter. They used to eat canned fish in brine too.
Canned oysters, sardines, and Limburger cheese. Their breath from eating that stuff could bring tears to a dog!

[shove_it]

UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA UFF DA

[Boojum]

Lutefisk: The piece of cod that passeth understanding.

[blueunicorn6]

Breakfast of Champions

Lutefisk, Creamed Herring on Lefse, Fatback and Collared Greens

Black Norwegian

[DFG]

bookmark

[fattigermaster]

[Hardraade]

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 ;).

[Grammy]

I have a friend who went back to the old country. The relatives there said “you guys actually eat that stuff?”

[DManA]

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.