|
Lutefisk (prounounced loo-te-fisk in America) is a well-known food of Norway and Sweden.
Lutefisk is made from stockfish (dried white fish - normally cod). It is made in a sequence of particular treatments. The first treatment is to soak the stockfish in cold water for five-six days (changed daily). The saturated stockfish is then soaked in an unchanged solution of cold water and lye for an additional two days. The fish will swell during this soaking, almost regaining the size of the original (undried) fish. At this point the fish is full of lye and poisonous. To make the fish edible, a final treatment of yet another four to six days (and nights) of soaking in cold water (also changed daily) is needed. Eventually lutefisk reaches its famous jelly-like consistency and is ready to be used for cooking.
In Scandinavia, the "season" for lutefisk starts early in November and is typically served throughout Christmas. Lutefisk is also very popular in Scandinavian-American areas of the United States, such as Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Lutefisk is usually served with a variety of side dishes, including, but not limited to, bacon, goat cheese, green pea stew, potatoes, meatballs, gravy, mashed rutabaga, white sauce, syrup, and "old cheese". Especially in the US, it is usually eaten with lefse. Even if the common denominator is lutefisk, side dishes vary greatly from family to family and region to region, and is a theme of recurring controversy when different "traditions" of lutefisk-eaters meet and eat together. Akvavit or beer often accompany the meal.
The dish has sometimes subjected Scandinavian-Americans to jokes about the personality traits suggested by serving chemically-treated white fish with a white sauce. It is somewhat notorious for its intense odor, even within Scandinavia. But lutefisk has its fair share of devotees: during 2001 Norwegians alone ate a total of 2055 tonnes of lutefisk in their homes and approximately 560 tonnes in restaurants.
Origin
The origin of lutefisk is as controversial as the fish itself. Some stories tell about fish accidentially dropped in a washing bowl containing lye, and because of poverty the fish had to be eaten nevertheless. Yet other stories tell about fires of various kinds, because ashes of wood combined with water will create lye. A possible scenario is that drying racks for stockfish caught fire, followed by days of rain, and again, because of poverty, the fish still had to be picked from the ashes, cleaned, prepared and eaten. Though there is no proven origin of lutefisk, a classic Norwegian cookbook ("Hanna Winsnes") from 1845 tells about how to make lye for lutefisk from a combination of birch ash, limestone and water, thus making the myths of fire and rain more probable.
Spellings
External link
|
