Literally “lye fish”-the first word that comes to my mind is yuck. Lutefisk is a traditional dish of the Nordic countries (namely Norway, Sweden, and the Swedish-speaking part of Finland) made from dried or salted whitefish (klippfisk) or stockfish (air-dried whitefish) that goes through various treatments soaked in lye (lut). For those of you who don’t know what lut is, it is sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda, a metallic base that forms a strong alkaline solution when dissolved in certain solvents-water, for example. Lut is commonly used in the production of pulp, paper, textiles, soap, and best yet, detergent and drain cleaner. Knowing that this chemical base is involved in such tasks as producing household cleaning products makes me not want to eat it.
Fear not, it is not harmful to your health. In fact, many other kinds of foods go through a treatment process with lut as well. These include fruits and vegetables (through a chemical peel process), poultry scalding, thickening ice cream, soda production, German pretzels, Chinese noodles, and more. The Scandinavians aren’t the only ones who use lut to treat food.
It is unknown how Scandinavians discovered the use of lut for fish treatment. There are several theories on the origin of lutefisk. One thought is that fish accidentally fell into a bowl of lut and because the family was so poor, they simply had to eat it, and discovered it was edible, perhaps tasty. Another theory is that fires would have created ashes of wood that mixed with the water to create lut. Yet another theory is that a rack of stockfish was out drying and got caught on fire, then it rained for several days, and again due to poverty, the fish was cleaned and eaten.
Who knows how lutefisk was discovered. All we know is that it remains extremely popular. It may come as a surprise to you, but more Norwegian-Americans and Canadians of Norwegian descent eat lutefisk today than native Scandinavians do. Madison, MN is the ‘lutefisk capital of the world.’ However, that’s not to say that in Norway, for example, lutefisk goes uneaten. In 2001, 2,055 tons of the jellylike fish were consumed in homes and 560 tons in restaurants (wikipedia). It is more common for Norwegian-Americans to eat lutefisk on Christmas, whereas over half of Norwegian families dine on pork ribs (svineribber) on Christmas.
Lutefisk is usually served with dishes such as green peas, potatoes, rutabaga, bacon, and lefse. The sauce used can vary from white sauce to gravy to geitost to clarified butter or syrup. Here is a very descriptive quote from Garrison Keillor (Wikipedia) concerning lutefisk:
“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.”
I don’t remember my family ever eating lutefisk for a holiday, but I do remember it from my college days at St. Olaf. Every year during Christmasfest, a major musical production (St. Olaf Choir is very well-known, even internationally) attracts lots of Norwegian-Americans. And most of them wear Norwegian sweaters (lusekofter). The food service in the cafeteria prepares lutefisk, poteter, lefse and more for the entire duration of the event (about 4 days). Therefore, the entire cafeteria smells like lutefisk and that is why I chose to eat off campus every year during Christmasfest.
I have to be honest with you, I’m not a fan of lutefisk. No lye for me please.
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