SC - SC-Professions

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

kat wrote:

> I have long been amazed at the phenomenon of lutefisk... to the point of disbelief at times.  My father says it's wonderful.  The one time I tried it I was horrified... haven't had another opportunity since (Swanson doesn't seem to ship their Lutefisk frozen dinners to California...  <grin> )

I'm surprised. Svensen's doesn't make frozen Lutefisk TV dinners?
 
> First of all, is lutefisk period?  Second, are there better and more appetizing methods of serving it besides the institutional white plate with lutefisk, unflavored white sauce and cold boiled potatoes that the local Sons of Norway's annual lutefisk-dinner chef seems to prefer?

Lutefisk, in its primal form, is as period as all get-out.
Or...well...yes, it's period. It is air-dried (as opposed to salt) cod,
a.k.a. (m.k.a.?) stockfish, probably the single most common medieval
food staple for Lent, if you go by the recipes. We really don't know how
period Scandinavians would have eaten it, though. As with many bland
foods (my favorite example being bean curd) it needs to be seasoned when
cooked. For those cultures whose only seasonings extend to salt and
pepper, that shouldn't be a problem. (I made a batch of haggis some
months ago which brought tears to the eyes. The only spices in it were
salt and pepper, but we seasoned them every step of the way, figuring
they were sausages, for Heaven's sake, and could NOT, as Jerry Seinfeld
says, not be spicy.)

I'm reasonably familiar with Lutefisk being served with melted butter
(sometimes drawn butter, but not always) and potato-dough pancakes that
the Norse call lefse, but the Swedes lompe. Hot dogs are also eaten in
lefse/lompe, BTW. Makes 'em almost tolerable.

> Seriously, now; I'm truly interested.  It would make one heckuva interesting feast....

Hmmmm. It would, wouldn't it? Welcome to Lars' Viking Buffet!

I suspect that the long lines would form for the mutton prosciutto
(fennlaer, IIRC), but there would likely be some diehard Scandamaniacs
(a non-derogatory technical term describing people like my friend Ateno)
who would feel quite at home with lutefisk and lefse, which, in this
case, would be made with barley, rye, and whole wheat flour. It's kind
of expensive and not always easy to find real torsk, though. Might have
to make do with really well soaked salt cod or fresh cod. Don't forget
the lingonberries and cloudberries!

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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