buckytom
Chef Extraordinaire
aww, c'mon, lutefisk is a delicious albeit acquired taste.
lutefisk is salt cod (not fresh cod. the best is from norway, harvested in the winter) that's been rehydrated in a dozen changes of water over a few days. then it's soaked in caustic soda,or powdered lye, to allow the flesh to absorb even more water. then it's rinsed and soaked a few more times to make it safe to eat again. then it's boiled.
it's served with loads of melted, unsalted butter. yes, the smell is incredibly bad, and the texture is unique, but the strong salty and fishy flavors play well with the butter.
it has to be served piping hot, too. the weird thing (yeah, i know. the entire idea of it is weird, but) i've found is that it's often served on a plate with other bland, white foods like mashed potatoes and steamed root veggies. but that sets the base for the flavor of the lutefisk.
you'd think with all of that freakin' snow they'd want a colorful plate, but hey, it works.
getting away from odd squarehead foods, how about norwegian pancakes? a simple crepe is filled with butter and sugar and rolled. occasionally, you can substitute lingonberry jam for the butter and sugar.
or how about fiskerboller. cod and potato balls served in a soupy milk and herb gravy.
ok, so a lot of it is strange, but the pancakes are good!
lutefisk is salt cod (not fresh cod. the best is from norway, harvested in the winter) that's been rehydrated in a dozen changes of water over a few days. then it's soaked in caustic soda,or powdered lye, to allow the flesh to absorb even more water. then it's rinsed and soaked a few more times to make it safe to eat again. then it's boiled.
it's served with loads of melted, unsalted butter. yes, the smell is incredibly bad, and the texture is unique, but the strong salty and fishy flavors play well with the butter.
it has to be served piping hot, too. the weird thing (yeah, i know. the entire idea of it is weird, but) i've found is that it's often served on a plate with other bland, white foods like mashed potatoes and steamed root veggies. but that sets the base for the flavor of the lutefisk.
you'd think with all of that freakin' snow they'd want a colorful plate, but hey, it works.
getting away from odd squarehead foods, how about norwegian pancakes? a simple crepe is filled with butter and sugar and rolled. occasionally, you can substitute lingonberry jam for the butter and sugar.
or how about fiskerboller. cod and potato balls served in a soupy milk and herb gravy.
ok, so a lot of it is strange, but the pancakes are good!