lutefisk
Ruth M. Sylte
>Ruth Sylte writes:
>>As part of my continuing mission to add to legitimate scholarship on
>>Wobegonian, Midwestern, and Norwegian cultures, I offer this recent
>>posting from soc.culture.nordic....
>>>True Norwegian lutefisk is cod soaked in lye.
>Aaaaaaagh!!!!
Now you know why we're such hardy people. ;-) (Hey, we *rinse* the fish first
and then thoroughly boil it...)
>Ruth, others, help! I'm travelling to Oslo next week on business. How
>many different ways can this "dish" appear on restaraunt menus where I
>might inadvertently order it? (grin!) - Bill (Big Mac & Fries person)
None. We don't try to hide it. You probably won't order it anyway, since
Lutefisk dinners in Oslo and Bergen are currently going for about $100 per
person per meal - two servings maximum on the lutefisk. That's without an
accompanying alcoholic beverages. (And no, I am *not* able to recommend a good
wine for lutefisk.)
If you go out on the Lutefisk Circuit of the Lutheran churches in west
central Minnesota, which started in October and runs through Christmas, you
will be able to try this delicacy for about $10-15 per person.
Some people love the stuff, some hate it. A few years ago, I took a British
friend of mine to the annual King's Room lutefisk dinner at St. Olaf College
during their Christmas Festival. (Darn good lutefisk, when you consider that
the guy in charge is Italian...) He had heard all sorts of horror stories. He
was surprised to note that, outside the strange smell, the fish didn't have
much taste to it at all. Blond and bland, the way we Norwegians like our
people and our food... ;-)
BTW, there are three MacDonald locations in Oslo: one near the National
Theater on a street off of Stortingata, one on Karl Johans Gata not far from
the Storting (Parliament), and one in between Torggata and Storgata about a
block north of the Domkirke (Lutheran Cathedral). Big Macs run over $7.00
(without fries and a Coke). Try the MacLaks (salmon).
Ha en god tur! (Have a good trip!)
_________________________________________________________________________
Ruth M. Sylte rms...@uci.edu |
Center for International Education | "If you think education is
University of California, Irvine | expensive, try ignorance."
Irvine, CA 92717-2476 USA |
william dubois
>As part of my continuing mission to add to
>legitimate scholarship on Wobegonian, Midwestern,
>and Norwegian cultures, I offer this recent
>posting from soc.culture.nordic....
>True Norwegian lutefisk is cod soaked in lye.
Aaaaaaagh!!!!
Ruth, others, help! I'm travelling to Oslo next week on business. How
many different ways can this "dish" appear on restaraunt menus where I
might inadvertently order it? (grin!) - Bill (Big Mac & Fries person)
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elin edwards f
enjoyment of lutefisk: that is, whether you serve lutefisk in the
Svenske or Norske manner.
Norwegians, confusing lutefisk with a sort of dried, lye-soaked lobster,
tend to serve it with melted ("drawn") butter. (Although my friend Judith
always told how her father would roll lutefisk and boiled potatoes in
lefse for a sort of Norwegian fajita)
Swedes, with more class all around, serve lutefisk with a smooth, buttery
cream sauce sprinkled lightly with allspice. Lovely.
Then, there was the Christmas a few years back when my sister and
brother-in-law in Superior, Wisc., had an exchange student from Norway
who was a vegetarian. In honour of the occasion, we quietly steamed a
plate of plain tofu and slipped it on the table, explaining with straight
face to everyone that it was vegetarian lutefisk. My nephew Kristophor
thought it was wonderful and ate most of it.
When you're Scandinavian, you don't need to account for taste.
Richard Ling TFM
|>
|> None. We don't try to hide it. You probably won't order it anyway, since
|> Lutefisk dinners in Oslo and Bergen are currently going for about $100 per
|> person per meal - two servings maximum on the lutefisk. That's without an
|> accompanying alcoholic beverages.
I just checked the price for a lutefisk dinner at Mauds (an upscale restruant in the
old Vestbanstasjon in Oslo across from Akerbrygge) The price was 210 kr or
about $30. The traditional alcohol with lutefisk is aquavit and beer.
The lutefisk probably comes with a mustard sauce, bacon and a thick form of pea
soup. Lutefisk readily takes on the tase of the bacon and the mustard.
My wife comes from Hardanger where they love their lutefisk. There they dispense
with the mustard sauce, bacon and the aquavit. It is pretty much just lutefisk.
The first time I had it I thought it was sort of like fish jelly with out the sugar. I
have grown to accept it as a part of christmas dinner. (The things we do for
domestic tranquility).
Rich Ling
Oslo Norway