Lutefisk (lutfisk) (pronounced in Southern
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
, in
CentralCentral Norway is an administrative division that includes the counties of Nord-Trøndelag, Sør-Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal and is used by, for example, the Regional Health Authorities and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Compared to the traditional regions of Norway it covers all of...
and Northern Norway,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
and the Swedish-speaking areas in
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
(
lipeäkala in
FinnishFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken...
)) is a traditional
dishA recipe is a set of instructions that show how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish.Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components:*The name of the dish...
of the
Nordic countriesThe Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories which include the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
made from
stockfishStockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by sun and wind on wooden racks on the foreshore called flakes, or in special drying houses. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage life of several years...
(air-dried
whitefishWhitefish is a fisheries term referring to several species of pelagic deep water fish with fins, particularly cod , whiting , and haddock , but also hake , pollock , or others.Unlike oily fish, white fish contain oils only in their liver,...
) or dried/salted whitefish (klippfisk) and
soda lyeSodium hydroxide , also known as lye and caustic soda, is a caustic metallic base. It is used in many industries, mostly as a strong chemical base in the manufacture of pulp and paper, textiles, drinking water, soaps and detergents and as a drain cleaner. Worldwide production in 1998 was around...
(
lut). Its name literally means "
lyeLye is a corrosive alkaline substance, commonly sodium hydroxide or historically potassium hydroxide . Previously, lye was among the many different alkalis leached from hardwood ashes...
fishA fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...
", because it is made using caustic lye soda derived from
potashPotash is the common name given to potassium carbonate and various mined and manufactured salts that contain the element potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains....
minerals.
Preparation
Lutefisk is made from dried whitefish (normally
codCod is the common name for the genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
, but
lingThe common ling, Molva molva, is a large member of the cod family. An ocean fish whose habitat is in the Atlantic region and can be found around Iceland, British Isles, the Norse coast and occasionally around Newfoundland, the ling has a long slender body that can reach 2 metres in length; in...
is also used), prepared with
lyeLye is a corrosive alkaline substance, commonly sodium hydroxide or historically potassium hydroxide . Previously, lye was among the many different alkalis leached from hardwood ashes...
, in a sequence of particular treatments. The watering steps of these treatments differ slightly for salted/dried whitefish because of its high salt content.
The first treatment is to soak the stockfish in cold
waterWater is an ubiquitous chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is essential for all known forms of life.In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71%...
for five to six days (with the water changed daily). The saturated stockfish is then soaked in an unchanged solution of cold water and lye for an additional two days. The fish swells during this soaking and its
proteinProteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues...
content decreases by more than 50 percent, producing its famous
jellyGelatin is a translucent, colorless, odorless, brittle, nearly tasteless solid substance, derived from the collagen inside animals' skin and bones. It is commonly used as a gelling agent in food, pharmaceuticals, photography, and cosmetic manufacturing. Substances containing gelatin or functioning...
-like consistency. When this treatment is finished, the fish (saturated with lye) has a
pHpH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It is defined as the cologarithm of the activity of dissolved hydrogen ions . Hydrogen ion activity coefficients cannot be measured experimentally, so they are based on theoretical calculations...
value of 11–12, and is therefore caustic. To make the fish edible, a final treatment of yet another four to six days of soaking in cold water (also changed daily) is needed. Eventually, the lutefisk is ready to be cooked.
In Finland, the traditional
reagentA reagent or reactant is a substance or compound consumed during a chemical reaction. Solvents and catalysts, although they are involved in the reaction, are usually not referred to as reactants....
used is
birchBirch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae.-Description:...
ash. It contains high amounts of
potassium carbonatePotassium carbonate is a white salt, soluble in water , which forms a strongly alkaline solution. It can be made as the product of potassium hydroxide's absorbent reaction with carbon dioxide. It is deliquescent, often appearing a damp or wet solid...
and hydrocarbonate, giving the fish a more mellow treatment than would sodium hydroxide (lyestone). It is important to not incubate the fish too long in the lye, because
saponificationSaponification is the hydrolysis of an ester under basic conditions to form an alcohol and the salt of a carboxylic acid . Saponification is commonly used to refer to the reaction of a metallic alkali with a fat or oil to form soap. Saponifiable substances are those that can be converted into...
of the fish fats may occur, effectively rendering the fish fats into soap. The term for such spoiled fish in Finnish is
saippuakala (soap fish).
Cooking
After the preparation, the lutefisk is saturated with water and must therefore be cooked carefully so that it does not fall into pieces.
Lutefisk does not need any additional water for the cooking; it is sufficient to place it in a pan, salt it, seal the lid tightly, and let it
steam cookSteaming is a method of cooking using steam. Steaming is considered a healthy cooking technique and capable of cooking almost all kinds of food.- Method :...
under a very low heat for 20–25 minutes. It is also possible to do this in an oven. There, the fish is put in an ovenproof dish, covered with
aluminium foilAluminium foil is aluminium prepared in thin metal leafs, with a thickness less than 0.2 mm / 0.008 in, although much thinner gauges down to 0.006 mm are commonly used.Foils are commonly gauged in Mils. The foil is extremely pliable, and can be bent or wrapped around objects with ease...
, and baked at 225 °C (435 °F) for 40–50 minutes.
Another option is to
parboilParboiling is the partial boiling of food in order to later finish cooking it.The word is often used when referring to parboiled rice. Parboiling can also be used for removing poisonous or foul-tasting substances from foodstuffs, such as removing gyromitrin from false morels...
lutefisk; wrap the lutefisk in
cheeseclothCheesecloth is a loosewoven cotton cloth used in cheese making, such as to press cheese curds for poutine. Cheesecloth is also used in straining stocks and custards, bundling herbs, making tofu, and thickening yogurt....
and gently boil until tender. This usually takes a very short time, so care must be taken to watch the fish and remove it before it is ready to fall apart. Prepare a white sauce to serve over the lutefisk.
Lutefisk sold in North America may also be cooked in a
microwave ovenA microwave oven, or a microwave, is a kitchen appliance that cooks or heats food by dielectric heating. This is accomplished by using microwave radiation to heat water and other polarized molecules within the food...
. The average cooking time is 8–10 minutes per whole fish (a package of two fish sides) at high power in a covered glass cooking dish, preferably made of
heat resistant glassPyrex is a brand name for glassware, introduced by Corning Incorporated in 1915. According to Carroll Gantz, Dr. Jesse Littleton of Corning discovered its cooking potential by presenting his wife with a makeshift casserole made from a cut down Nonex battery jar...
. The cooking time will vary, depending upon the power of the microwave oven.
When cooking and eating lutefisk, it is important to clean the lutefisk and its residue off pans, plates, and utensils immediately. Lutefisk left overnight becomes nearly impossible to remove. Sterling silver should never be used in the cooking, serving or eating of lutefisk, which will permanently ruin silver. Stainless steel utensils are recommended instead.
Eating
In the Nordic Countries, the "season" for lutefisk starts early in November and typically continues through
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
. Lutefisk is also very popular in Nordic-North American areas of
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, especially the prairie regions and the large Finnish community at
SointulaSointula is an isolated village on Malcolm Island in British Columbia, Canada. It lies between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland, northeast of Port McNeill and not far from Alert Bay. it has a population of roughly 800....
on Malcolm Island in the province of
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
, and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, particularly in the
Upper MidwestThe Upper Midwest is a perceived region of the United States with no universally agreed-upon boundary, but it almost always lies within the US Census Bureau's definition of the Midwest and includes the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana...
and
NorthwestNorthwest or north west is the ordinal direction halfway between north and west on a compass. It is the opposite of southeast. Some terms use the word northwest or a variation of it:- Northwest :...
. From October to February, there are numerous lutefisk feeds in cities and towns around
Puget SoundPuget Sound is a sound or complex of inland marine waterways in the northwestern part of Washington, United States, extending from the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca south to the head of the sound at the state capital of Olympia. It branches out from Admiralty Inlet and Deception Pass...
.
Lutefisk is usually served with a variety of side dishes, including, but not limited to,
baconBacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured in a brine or in a dry packing, both consisting largely of salt; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months , boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
, green
peaA pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the legume Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Although it is botanically a fruit, it is treated as a vegetable in cooking...
s, green
peaA pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the legume Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Although it is botanically a fruit, it is treated as a vegetable in cooking...
stew,
potatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes are the world's fourth largest food...
es,
lefseLefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread.Tjukklefse or tykklefse is thicker, and often served with coffee as a cake....
,
gravyGravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt or gravy browning or ready-made cubes and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts...
, mashed
rutabagaThe rutabaga, swede , or yellow turnip is a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip...
, white sauce, melted or
clarifiedClarified butter is butter that has been rendered to separate the milk solids and water from the butterfat. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the different components to separate by density...
butterButter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying...
,
syrupIn cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals. The viscosity arises from the multiple hydrogen bonds between the dissolved sugar, which has many hydroxyl groups, and the water...
, geitost (goat cheese), or "old"
cheeseCheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the milk is acidified and addition of the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. The solids are separated and pressed into...
(gammelost). In the United States in particular it is sometimes eaten together with
meatballA meatball is a ball of ground meat where the meat is rolled into a ball along with other ingredients, such as bread or breadcrumbs, minced onion, various spices, and possibly eggs, rolled together by hand, and cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce.There are many kinds of...
s. Side dishes vary greatly from family-to-family and region-to-region, and can be a source of jovial contention when eaters of different "traditions" of lutefisk dine together.
Today,
akvavitAkevitt is a flavored spirit that is produced in Scandinavia and typically contains 40% alcohol by volume. Its name comes from aqua vitae, the Latin for "water of life".- Etymology :...
and
beerBeer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely...
often accompany the meal due to its use at festive and ceremonial occasions (and most eaters, regardless of side dish preferences, will argue that these beverages complement the meal perfectly) . This is a recent innovation, however; due to its preservative qualities, lutefisk has traditionally been a common "everyday" meal in wintertime.
Lutefisk prepared from
codCod is the common name for the genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
is somewhat notorious, even in
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
, for its intense (and to those unacquainted to the dish, offensive)
odorAn odor or odour is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction. Odors are also called smells, which can refer to both pleasant and unpleasant odors...
. Conversely, lutefisk prepared from
pollockPollock is the common name used for either of the two species of marine fish in the Pollachius genus. Both P. pollachius and P. virens are commonly referred to as pollock. Other names for P...
or
haddockThe haddock or offshore hake is a marine fish distributed on both sides of the North Atlantic. Haddock is a popular food fish, widely fished commercially....
contains almost no odor.
Lutefisk has its fair share of devotees: in 2001, Norwegians consumed 2,055 tonnes of lutefisk in their homes and approximately 560 tonnes in restaurants. (To put this quantity in perspective, 2,400 tonnes would fill approximately 80 full size
semi trucksA semi-trailer truck, also known as tractor-trailer or articulated truck or articulated lorry, often abbreviated to artic, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine ,...
or a medium length
goods trainA freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by a locomotive on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
). Annual sales of lutefisk in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
exceed those in Norway.
The taste of well-prepared lutefisk is very mild, and often the white sauce is spiced with pepper or other strong tasting spices to bring out the flavour.
Origin
The origins of lutefisk are a subject of debate. Some accounts mention a fish accidentally dropped in a washing bowl containing lye, and because of family poverty, the fish had to be eaten. Other stories discuss fires of various kinds, because ashes of wood combined with water will create lye.
One possible scenario is that drying racks for stockfish caught fire, followed by days of rain, and then the fish, being too valuable to throw away even in this condition, was picked from the ashes, cleaned, prepared, and eaten. However, the use of softening with lye is actually a fairly common practice with many kinds of food (such as
hominyHominy or nixtamal is dried maize kernels which have been treated with an alkali.The traditional U.S. version involves soaking dried corn in lye-water , traditionally derived from wood ash, until the hulls are removed.Mexican recipes describe a preparation process consisting primarily of cooking in...
), so it may have been a deliberate and not accidental move. Yet further accounts claim that the practice originated as a way of storing and preserving fish meat outdoors, taking advantage of the natural cold, with the lye dissuading wild animals from eating the meat; boiling would be employed to reduce the lye concentration for human consumption.
Traces in literature
The point at which people first began eating lutefisk is also debated. Some enthusiasts claim that the dish has been consumed since the time of the Vikings, while others believe that its origins lie in the 16th-century
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
. At any rate, it is generally agreed that the first written mention of "lutefisk" is in a letter written by Swedish king Gustav I in 1540, and the first written description of the preparation process is in Swedish archbishop
Olaus MagnusOlaus Magnus was a Swedish ecclesiastic and writer, who did pioneering work for the interest of Nordic people. He was reported as born in October 1490 in Östergötland, and died on August 1, 1557. Magnus, Latin for the Swedish Stor “great”, is a Latin family name taken personally, and not a...
's (1490–1557) personal writings from 1555.
In Norway, author Henry Notaker (in the encyclopedia
Apetittleksikon) states that the earliest historical traces are from the late 18th century in the southeastern region of the country. Additionally, a classic Norwegian cookbook (
Hanna Winsnes) from 1845 tells about how to make lye for lutefisk from a combination of
birchBirch is the name of any tree of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae.-Description:...
ash,
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
, and water.
FolkloreFolklore is the body of expressive culture, including stories, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions of that culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which...
holds that lutefisk originated during the Viking pillages of
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
, when St. Patrick sent men to feed spoiled fish to the Viking raiders. When the raiders were found to enjoy the spoiled fish, St. Patrick ordered his men to pour lye on the fish , with the hope of poisoning the Vikings. However, rather than dying from ingestion of spoiled fish, or of subsequent poisoning of the spoiled fish, the Vikings declared lutefisk a delicacy. There is however about three centuries between St. Patricks time in Ireland and the Vikings arrival in Ireland.
Some Scandinavian descendants claim that their strength and longevity are derived from eating lutefisk at least once a year.
Lutefisk and Norwegians
A misconception is that lutefisk is most popular in Norway. In fact, lutefisk is today more commonly eaten by
Norwegian AmericanNorwegian Americans are Americans of Norwegian descent. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the later half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than five million Norwegian Americans according to the most recent U.S...
s and Canadians of Norwegian descent than by their counterparts in Norway. In the United States,
Madison, MinnesotaMadison is a city in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,768 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lac qui Parle County. It proclaims itself to be the "lutefisk capital of the world."-Geography:...
, boasts to be the "lutefisk capital of the world." A survey
http://www.sifo.no/files/file61281_bugge-helt-enkel-tjul.pdf performed by the National Information Office for Meat in Norway claimed that as few as 2 percent of Norwegians consume lutefisk on Christmas Eve (while 52 percent dine on
pork ribsPork ribs are a type of food dish popular in North America and Asian cuisine. Pork and bones from a pig's ribcage are cooked by smoking, grilling, or baking – usually with a sauce, often barbecue – and then served.-Cuts of pork ribs:...
, the most popular Christmas dinner in Norway), while 20 percent eat lutefisk before Christmas.
Lutefisk humor
Lutefisk eaters thrive on quotes and jokes from skeptics of lutefisk comparing it to everything from
rat poison"Rat poison" redirects here. For the UNIX window manager, see ratpoison.Rodenticides are a category of pest control chemicals intended to kill rodents.Single feed baits are chemicals sufficiently dangerous that the first dose is sufficient to kill....
(which has a hint of truth to it, because of the traces of nonstandard
amino acidAmino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and one of the twenty R-groups. These molecules are particularly important in biochemistry, where this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H
2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent...
lysinoalanine found in lutefisk due to the reaction with lye) to
weapons of mass destructionThe term weapon of mass destruction is often used to describe a weapon that can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general....
. A few examples are:
- Quote from Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, columnist, musician, satirist, and radio personality...
's book Lake Wobegon DaysLake Wobegon Days is a novel by Garrison Keillor, first published in hardcover by Viking in 1985. Based on material from his radio show A Prairie Home Companion, the book brought Keillor's work to a much wider audience and achieved international success...
:
"Every AdventAdvent is a season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus; in other words, the period immediately before Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday. The Eastern churches...
we entered the purgatory of lutefisk, a repulsive gelatinous fishlike dish that tasted of soap and gave off an odor that would gag a goat. We did this in honor of Norwegian ancestors, much as if survivors of a famine might celebrate their deliverance by feasting on elm bark. I always felt the cold creeps as Advent approached, knowing that this dread delicacy would be put before me and I’d be told, "Just have a little." Eating a little was like vomiting a little, just as bad as a lot."
- Quote from Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, columnist, musician, satirist, and radio personality...
's book PontoonPontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon is a novel by Garrison Keillor, a humorous fictional account of life in the fictitious heartland town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. It was first published in hardcover by Viking Press in September 2007....
:
"Lutefisk is cod that has been dried in a lye solution. It looks like the desiccated cadavers of squirrels run over by trucks, but after it is soaked and reconstituted and the lye is washed out and it’s cooked, it looks more fish-related, though with lutefisk, the window of success is small. It can be tasty, but the statistics aren’t on your side. It is the hereditary delicacy of Swedes and Norwegians who serve it around the holidays, in memory of their ancestors, who ate it because they were poor. Most lutefisk is not edible by normal people. It is reminiscent of the afterbirth of a dog or the world’s largest chunk of phlegm."
- Interview with Jeffrey Steingarten
Jeffrey Steingarten is one of the leading food writers in the United States. He has been the food critic at Vogue magazine since 1989. His monthly columns in Vogue have earned him a National Magazine Award, and nearly a dozen James Beard Awards and nominations...
, author of The Man Who Ate Everything (translated quote from a 1999 articlein Norwegian newspaper DagbladetDagbladet is Norway's third largest newspaper with a circulation of 146,512 copies in 2006, 15,557 papers less than in 2005 . The newspaper was founded in 1869, and its format was changed to tabloid in 1983. The word "Dagbladet" literally means "The day magazine". From 1884 to 1977 the newspaper...
:)
"Lutefisk is not food, it is a weapon of mass destruction. It is currently the only exception for the man who ate everything. Otherwise, I am fairly liberal, I gladly eat worms and insects, but I draw the line on lutefisk."
"What is special with lutefisk?"
"Lutefisk is the Norwegians' attempt at conquering the world. When they discovered that Viking raids didn't give world supremacy, they invented a meal so terrifying, so cruel, that they could scare people to become one's subordinates. And if I'm not terribly wrong, you will be able to do it as well."
"But some people say that they like lutefisk. Do you think they tell the truth?"
"I do not know. Of all food, lutefisk is the only one that I don't take any stand on. I simply cannot decide whether it is nice or disgusting, if the taste is interesting or commonplace. The only thing I know, is that I like bacon, mustard and lefseLefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread.Tjukklefse or tykklefse is thicker, and often served with coffee as a cake....
. Lutefisk is an example of food that almost doesn't taste anything, but is so full of emotions that the taste buds get knocked out."
- The Ole and Lena
Ole and Lena are central characters in jokes by Scandinavian-Americans, particularly Norwegian-Americans, dominantly in the Upper Midwest region of the U.S., particularly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and North Dakota where Scandinavian immigrants and Lutherans are common...
joke books make frequent references to lutefisk, for example:
Well, we tried the lutefisk trick and the raccoons went away, but now we've got a family of Norwegians living under our house!
- When Lutefisk is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Lutefisk! A bumper sticker seen around Seattle
Ballardis a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of Seattle, Washington. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, ; to the east by Phinney Ridge and Fremont ; to the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and to the west by Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. The neighborhood’s landmarks...
in the 1980s, parodying the gun-rights slogan of the era.
- The negative view of lutefisk exemplified in these jokes may have led Ulf Gunnarsson to write his parody Lutefisk and Yams. This take-off starts out in trochaic
A trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one...
hexameterHexameter is a literary and poetic form, a line consisting of six metrical feet, as in the Iliad. It was the standard epic metre in Greek and became standard for Latin too. It was also used in other types of composition -- in Horace's satires, for instance, and Ovid's Metamorphoses...
: "Hark and ware oh warrior, weird of Sven now hear you". The initial section uses alliteration instead of rhyme, like much Old English heroic poetry (e.g., BeowulfBeowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th and the early 11th century, set in Denmark and Sweden...
): "Finally pounds of pancakes paired with lingonberries." Then it switches to iambAn iamb or iambus is a metrical foot used in various types of poetry. Originally the term referred to one of the feet of the quantitative meter of classical Greek prosody: a short syllable followed by a long syllable...
ic tetrameterIn poetry, a tetrameter is a line of four metrical feet. The particular foot, of course, can vary, as follows:*Anapestic tetrameter:**"And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea" *Iambic tetrameter:**"Because I could not stop for Death" *Trochaic...
as it imitates Dr. Seuss: "I do not like lutefisk and yams/I do not like them Sven-I-Am".
- The Wisconsin
Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. states. Located in the north-central United States, Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the...
Employees' Right to Know Act specifically exempts lutefisk in defining "toxic substances".
- "Revenge of the Lutefisk", an episode of the animated series King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997 to September 13, 2009 on Fox. It centers on the Hills, a small-town Methodist family in Arlen, Texas...
, uses the dish as a key plot device. When a new Methodist minister arrives in town from Minnesota, she brings some lutefisk to a potluck welcome dinner. Bobby HillRobert Jeffrey "Bobby" Hill is a character on the animated series King of the Hill and is voiced by Pamela Adlon. Born September 29, he is the 13-year old only child of Hank and Peggy Hill.- Character biography :...
steals and eats the entire batch, enjoying the taste despite its strong smell, and inadvertently sets in motion a chain of events that leads to the church being burned down.
- "Drop Dead Gorgeous
Drop Dead Gorgeous is a 1999 American dark comedy film, directed by Michael Patrick Jann and starring Kirstie Alley, Ellen Barkin, Denise Richards, Brittany Murphy and Kirsten Dunst...
" dialog:
- Brett Clemmens: [after Becky has tossed her food tray in, splattering Amber who's working in the cafeteria with its contents - Brett looks apologetic] Oh man...you got some lutefisk in your hair.
- Amber Atkins: (upbeat) Then it must be Wednesday!
Spellings
- Danish
Danish is one of the North Germanic languages , a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by around 6 million people, mainly in Denmark; the language is also used by the 50,000 Danes in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany where it holds the...
: ludfisk or ludefisk
- Norwegian
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants ...
: lutefisk (earlier ludefisk (Danish) spelling still sometimes used in English) or lutfisk
- Swedish
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
: lutfisk
- Finnish
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken...
: lipeäkala or livekala
See also
- Clipfish
Dried and salted cod, usually called salt cod, is cod preserved by salting, drying, or both.With the sharp decline in the world stocks of cod due to overfishing, other white fish may be used instead, sometimes labelled as such, and sometimes still misleadingly called "salt cod", so the term has...
: Salted dried fish, usually codCod is the common name for the genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
.
- Surströmming
Surströmming is a northern Swedish dish consisting of fermented Baltic herring, just like Japanese Kusaya fermented fish such as the horse mackerel, the flying fish, or the sharks. Similar fish is made world wide. Surströmming is sold in cans, which often bulge during shipping and storage, due to...
- Bacalhau
Bacalhau is the Portuguese word for dried and salted codfish. Fresh cod is referred to as bacalhau fresco.-Use:Bacalhau dishes are common in Portugal and Galicia, in the north of Spain, and to a lesser extent in its former colonies like Angola, Macau, and Brazil...
: A PortuguesePortuguese cuisine is characterised by rich, filling and full-flavored dishes and is closely related to Mediterranean cuisine. The influence of Portugal's former colonial possessions is also noted, especially in the wide variety of spices used. These spices include piri piri and black pepper, as...
dish also made of reconstituted dried fish.
- Baccalà
Baccalà is Italian for salt cod. Most baccalà dishes require that the fish be soaked numerous times to remove excess saltiness. It is the same word as Portuguese bacalhau, and Spanish bacalao, which are used in similar dishes....
- Hákarl
Hákarl or kæstur hákarl is a food from Iceland. It is a Greenland or basking shark which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for 4-5 months. Hákarl has a very particular ammonia-rich smell and fishy taste, similar to Jewish deli whitefish or very strong cheese...
- Gravlax
Gravlax or gravad lax , gravad laks , gravlaks , graavilohi , graflax is a Scandinavian dish consisting of raw salmon cured in salt, sugar, and dill...
External links