Subject: Re: Lutefisk

From: [email-masked]
Date: 27 Dec 94 20:46:41 -0600

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Tom Wicklund) writes:
> In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] writes:
> 
>>In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Daniel Tulledge) writes:
>>> I am interested in any stories of religious or cultural traditions 
>>> centered around Lutefisk, preparations of Lutefisk, and general stories 
>>> or Lutefisk lore.
> 
>>My very Roman Catholic aunt grew up in a small town in southern Iowa,
>>where a good share of the diet during Lent was lutefisk.  The town ...
> 
> You mean Advent.  Lent is before Easter in the spring.
> Lutefisk is traditionally served around Christmas.

Nope.  Lent.  We talked about it at Christmas dinner again.  Apparently,
though my aunt is of German/English background, as was most of her
town, lutefisk was _the_ cheap dried fish during the 1930's depression
in southern Iowa.

Kay Klier

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From: [email-masked] (Jodie Kain)
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 1994 14:24:02 GMT

Is the dried cod used for Lutefisk at all related to bocalao (Portugese),
or any of the Italian/Spanish/Carribean, etc, spellings of salt cod.
?????????

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From: [email-masked] (Alf Christophersen)
Date: 2 Jan 1995 12:02:15 GMT

>or any of the Italian/Spanish/Carribean, etc, spellings of salt cod.
No, the only relation btw. stockfish (used for lutefisk) and the split and 
dried cod (used for bacalao) is that both is made from cod. Stockfish is 
dried on stocks and is not salted, but dried fish is salted and dried on 
stone ground (in older days, today dried in factories). In Norwegian 
stockfish is called tørrfisk (dried fish) but dried fish is called 
'klippfisk' (dried on the stone hills, 'klipper')

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Alf Christophersen               | Computer engineer

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From: [email-masked] (Alf Christophersen)
Date: 2 Jan 1995 12:09:00 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Mari L J Voipio) says:
>
>Lutfisk (in Swedish) or lipeakala (in Finnish; the first "a" has two
>dots - the words mean same thing even though they look very different)
>is also eaten in Finland at Christmas meals. The tradition is old, but
>nowadays many people prefer eating salmon or something else that's
>tastier than lutfisk.
>
>Preparing lutfisk is a lengthy project, the fish has to be soaked in
>cold water for 24 hours (I'm not sure; I've never prepared it myself because
>none of us likes it and thus we don't eat it) and then it is cooked. The
>fish itself tastes very bland and only the gravy (thick, with lots of
>cream) makes it eatable (personal opinion). Of course, the taste wasn't
>that important when you couldn't get any other fish in Christmas time...

You have missed the whole process which gives it the name. Lutefisk means
'lye fish', that is, after watering the stockfish for many days, changing
water at least twice a day, you soaks it in a lye bath (NaOH or KOH)
for about 12-24 hour and after that, you soak it in rinning water for
about 24 hours more before either cooking it slowly for about 10-15 minutes
or freezing it until it is to be used. (You may store it in the cooler
for several days, but not too long)

What you did describe as 'lutefisk' is boiled stockfish, which I agree
is a rather bland dish. I don't like it so much. Prefer rather the salted
dried cod which is used for the bacalao. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Alf Christophersen               | Computer engineer
                                 | Institute for Nutrition Research
[email-masked]            | University of Oslo
list owner                       | PO Box 1046, Blindern
Editor of 'Slekt og Data'        | N-0316 Oslo  Norway
Quarterly organ of               | Tel. +47 22 85 41 97
DIS-Norge, PO Box 146, Manglerud | Priv. N-4909 Songe 
N-0612 Oslo                      | tel. +47 37 16 42 09

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From: [email-masked] (Mari L J Voipio)
Date: 2 Jan 1995 19:09:12 GMT

Alf Christophersen ([email-masked]) wrote:
: In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Mari L J Voipio) says:
: >
: >Lutfisk (in Swedish) or lipeakala (in Finnish; the first "a" has two
: >dots - the words mean same thing even though they look very different)
: >is also eaten in Finland at Christmas meals. The tradition is old, but
: >nowadays many people prefer eating salmon or something else that's
: >tastier than lutfisk.
: >
: >Preparing lutfisk is a lengthy project, the fish has to be soaked in
: >cold water for 24 hours (I'm not sure; I've never prepared it myself because
: >none of us likes it and thus we don't eat it) and then it is cooked. The
: >fish itself tastes very bland and only the gravy (thick, with lots of
: >cream) makes it eatable (personal opinion). Of course, the taste wasn't
: >that important when you couldn't get any other fish in Christmas time...

: You have missed the whole process which gives it the name. Lutefisk means
: 'lye fish', that is, after watering the stockfish for many days, changing
: water at least twice a day, you soaks it in a lye bath (NaOH or KOH)
: for about 12-24 hour and after that, you soak it in rinning water for
: about 24 hours more before either cooking it slowly for about 10-15 minutes
: or freezing it until it is to be used. (You may store it in the cooler
: for several days, but not too long)

<clip>

No, I didn't miss the process, I was just assuming too much. In Finland,
when you buy lutfisk (you'll only manage around Xmas), the fish you get
_is_already_soaked_in_lye_bath_ and thus the first thing you do is to
rinse off the lye. It's considered very unsafe to do lye bathing
yourselves...

But, apparently we traditionally cook the lutfisk too long...

						mari voipio
						[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Alf Christophersen)
Date: 4 Jan 1995 20:44:02 GMT

>rinse off the lye. It's considered very unsafe to do lye bathing

Yes, if you use commercial concentrated lye, I agree.

But, traditionally, you should make the lye yourself, from birch ash.
The most dangerous process is removing the lid from stove when hot.
Yes, it is both hot and quite dangerous for your skin because the lye,
but it is not so very strong. pH about 11-12. The fish is MUCH, MUCH
more tastier!! (I'm really missing it since you cannot get it commercially)

>But, apparently we traditionally cook the lutfisk too long...

Too many do so.

Beside, the lye should be washed off by the producers. Only if it is
old, it would be necessary to wash it more. You only risk to loose
all taste if you continue to rinse it.

Hm. I'll look tomorrow if some shops has some more lutefisk :-)
I gut hungry!!