[Sca-cooks] lutefisk and Lefse

Ian Kusz sprucebranch at gmail.com
Fri Jan 22 18:22:33 PST 2010


Yeah, I'm with you, there.

Mom was trying to learn gourmet cooking in the age of Julia Child.  But some
of the stuff she made was, I think, not of that tradition, and I wonder
where she got it.

Other stuff, of course, came from HER childhood.

Howe'er it was, they became traditions.  In addition to the traditions Dad
brought because of his European background.

some of the most notable items:

pickled herring (Dad)
halvah (Dad)
Waldorf Salad (mom)
Broccoli Casserole (Mom - a very odd item, kind of sour, very cheesy, bad
for you.  Yum!)
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/318/Broccoli_Casserole10654.shtml (though
we used croutons....)

old standbys like turkey and cheesecake from the American Holiday tradition
Dad's "Polish Omelette" (basically, you mix a bunch of things into scrambled
eggs....)

Potato Pancakes in the Polish tradition (no onions, 2 cups flour and 2 eggs
per 5 quarts) Made In Massive Quantities (free up 2 full shelves in the
fridge, please), served with sour cream (of course) or, for freaks,
applesauce (blasphemy!)  or ketchup (what a waste)

Four-layer Delight http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1813,155189-249198,00.html
warm milk with vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg not being just for kids
Every Meal containing a potato (baked, fried, hashed, mashed, whatever)

On Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 7:41 AM, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius <
adamantius1 at verizon.net> wrote:

>
> On Jan 11, 2010, at 10:13 AM, Susan Fox wrote:
>
> > It was never about the lutefisk itself, or the haggis, or gefilte fish,
> or chitlins.  It was about the whole complex of family memory associated
> with the smell and taste.  The feel of sitting at grandmother's table.  The
> Love.
> >
> > Philosophically,
> > Selene
>
> Very well said, and all too frequently overlooked. Of course, we should
> probably try to avoid speaking in absolutes. Sometimes it _is_ about the
> haggis or the gefilte fish (else why bother even trying to make good ones or
> argue about which method is best?), or at least never completely not about
> them. But also never not about the cultural emotional investment and the
> symbolism thereof.
>
> Adamantius (thinking of some of the weird stuff his Mom cooked over the
> years. mostly fairly conservative  but sometimes a little off the beaten
> track of popularity)
>
>



-- 
Ian of Oertha



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