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> land of herring cured in lye This is not a thing. Yes, herring are cured, but not in lye. Lutefisk is made from large white fish (eg. cod), not herring, a
by 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
> land of herring cured in lye
This is not a thing. Yes, herring are cured, but not in lye.
Lutefisk is made from large white fish (eg. cod), not herring, and it's best known as a Norwegian dish. (Do Danes even eat the stuff?)
- 2rsf 7y agoDo Swedes even eat that stuff?
- _Microft 7y agoWell, some Swedes eat Surströmming, that's ... umm 'bad' as well. I heard a joke that went like this: To eat Surströmming, you need three lakes. One lake to open the can in (so it does not splash), another to rinse the fish and a third one to wash your hands in. Then avoid bathing in these lakes for the next decade.
- gambiting 7y ago>>Well, some Swedes eat Surströmming, that's ... umm 'bad' as well. I don't get the hate about Surstroming. Had it in Sweden and I can totally see enjoying it with some pickled gherkin and few shots of vodka. But then I'm Polish so I'll eat pickled anything.
- dijit 7y agoThe problem is the smell and the fact people don't know how to handle it to avoid the smell. (Hint: for starters you have to open it under water people!)
- dehrmann 7y agoI think only half of the Swedes I know have ever had Surströmming, and none of them were excited about it. Now snus is another story...
- notJim 7y agoFrom the Wikipedia page: "German food critic and author Wolfgang Fassbender wrote that 'the biggest challenge when eating surströmming is to vomit only after the first bite, as opposed to before.'"
- CarlHoerberg 7y agoLutfisk, yes, very much so
- Entalpi 7y agoLutfisk is a staple at Swedish christmas. It has been fading though.
- samsari 7y agoIt's never been present at any Swedish christmas I've ever attended.
- jeltz 7y agoYes, plenty of Swedes eat it at Christmas. Lutefisk (lutfisk in Swedish) is eaten almost only in Norway and Sweden, it is not a Danish dish.
- tallanvor 7y agoSupposedly more Lutefisk is eaten in the US than in Scandinavia: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/scandinavians-strange-holiday-lutefisk-tradition-2218218/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/scandinavians-strange-... Living in Norway, I can think of one person I know who likes it, and most others hate it, with a few being closer to neutral on it.
- floren 7y ago> I can think of one person I know who likes it, and most others hate it, with a few being closer to neutral on it. It's the same way in the US. My father enjoys it, my wife and I tolerate it, and the rest of my family mostly just chokes down a piece out of Christmas tradition (and to clear up the plate for Swedish meatballs afterward)
- mattrp 7y agoGrowing up in the 80s In the US lutefisk was a rumor... supposedly it hadn’t been seen since my grandfather last made it when my parents were kids and he’d been banned since then. I asked some friends in Norway and then said theres a joke to the effect that all the real Norwegians moved to Minnesota long ago. In any case, no one they knew had ever had it! I do remember we would make lefse around the holidays... I made it for my kids and they said it tasted like wet newspaper with butter and sugar... Of course they still ate it all.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Fricken 7y agoMy Norwegian Grandfather was born in Minnesota and migrated as a child to a Norwegian community in Alberta. In the 80s I went with my grandparents to an annual Lutefisk dinner, and they didn't eat the Lutefisk, nor would they let me try it. Too disgusting, they said. I've never actually tasted it. Lefse however is the most popular traditional Norwegian dish that we make at Christmas (Lefse is basically a tortilla shell made with potatoes instead of corn or flour). While we regard lefse to be some kind of sacrosanct traditional Norwegian cuisine, in Norway they sell hotdogs wrapped in lefse.
- simongray 7y ago> Do Danes even eat the stuff? Nope, but the more traditional-sounding pickled herring is huge here.
- eitland 7y agoIt is here in Norway as well. Lutefisk is mostly a seasonal thing AFAIK : )
- protomyth 7y agoIt is also in certain US states (MN, ND). I was told that is done more in America than it is in Norway these days.
- impalallama 7y agoTraditions are weird like that, the biggest maker of Lutefisk is in Minnesota I believe.
- Symbiote 7y agoA very small disappointment when moving to Denmark was the reduced sild selection compared to Sweden, which I had visited a lot before I moved. I expected to see 10 types in every supermarket, as in Sweden¹. Instead, it's curry (!), dill, plain, and (if I'm very lucky) my favourite, mustard. I've been known to stock up on the more extravagant flavours in Malmø. Skärgårds (skerry? archipelago?) and ramslök (ramson) are the best. ¹ https://www.abba.se/produkter/sill/ https://www.abba.se/produkter/sill/ — 17 types!
- simongray 7y agoYeah, Danish groceries really can't compete with Sweden's superior selection. I think it's better than it used to be as the grocery store duopoly is under siege by Norwegian and German chains.
- fyfy18 7y agoSilkė - pickled herring - is quite popular in Lithuania throughout the year. You can have it on its own, but usually it is served with other vegetetables. My favourite is what I call silkė cake: https://lithuanianintheusa.com/2018/03/28/traditional-dressed-herring-tradicine-silke-pataluose/ https://lithuanianintheusa.com/2018/03/28/traditional-dresse... I'm not sure how it became so popular here, considering we don't have that much of a coastline.
- yostrovs 7y agoRussians call that last thing "shuba," coat (for the herring). One of my favorite things. Glad we agree!