Finding Minnesota: The Taste Of Lutefisk

If you've never tried it, you've probably at least smelled it. Lutefisk season is upon us as many Minnesotans celebrate their Scandinavian heritage, Rachel Slavik reports. WCCO 4 News Weekends - Dec. 20, 2015

[@BW_Reformation]

King of the Hill brought me here.

[@l.v.1950]

Bobby lol

[@abelguzman627]

Bruh!!! Same hahahah 😂

[@Victor-pv2pk]

Me 2

[@HuffyandHeffler]

bobby was the smelly man

[@luketargett2233]

@@HuffyandHeffler man with the stink

[@jupiternetwork]

"I ate the lutefisk. I got sick and went to the bathroom. I burned down the church."

[@dominiquethomas1473]

This is the reason I’m here, thank you 😂😂😂😂

[@PettyLevel-EXPERT]

I hoped I wasn’t the only KOTH weirdo here! 😂🤦🏽‍♀️

[@ATLgamingZ6]

@@PettyLevel-EXPERTI just pause the episode to see what it was 😂😂

[@IsmokeHiphopLive]

King of the Hill got me here.

[@juancarrasco1788]

Bobby Hill 😂 King of the Hill

[@Analymous]

That’s why I’m here Lol

[@StormLaker]

I'm of scandinavian heritage.....but not as much as some of the folks I know across the border in Minnesota- but I could eat Lutefisk 5 days a week during the holidays. We pickle and can our own fresh walleye and northern fillets- we like ours with hot peppers and onion in the pickling juice. When I can get them, I'll make lutefisk out of burbot fillets- it's out of this world:-).

[@daginn896]

But you do cure it with lye? If not it is not lutefisk.

[@Odqvist89]

I lay my both lutes in lye yesterday. Two different fishes, in separate boxes with old fashioned lye mix. They will be ready for Christmas day. I'm Swedish, living in Sweden.

[@grzyruth9205]

yeah i bet

[@mawage666]

44 years old born and raised in Minnesota and still have never tried it. I really want to though. It sounds darn delicious!

[@fenomfangx]

Why did the leave the part about soaking it in lye out?

[@JOhnSmith-gg2mm]

Because of the terrorist

[@IzludeTingel]

that takes way too long and it's also 6x more expensive to do it that way... besides, the lye doesn't really add anything special. i've tasted it both ways, the water version is definitely more tasty. lye just taste like those milk bags that schools serve (the way band aids smell, it tastes) yucky yucky..

[@takechanceslive]

Give it 50years it’ll make a comeback

[@EnsoLLC]

lutefisk is ludacris

[@mhoff5777]

I can eat Lutefisk twice a week all through the Holidays.. U-Bett-cha....

[@Primal478]

Old legend in Norway says that lutefisk originated when a hansa-harbor in Bergen burnt down to the ground with all the cod inside. Then it started to rain and the ash mixed with the fish. Apparantly people ate it and thought it was good eating.

[@martinm3474]

From Decorah Iowa, my Mother had a story with some Danes trying to poison the Vikings.

[@erlngha]

I'm a Norwegian. We eat lutefisk several times each year and watching the preparation and serving of this lutefisk hurts physically. Lutefisk should NOT be like jelly - here's how we prepare it: 1. Place the lutefisk pieces with the skin side down in a long pan and salt them, calculate approx. 1 tablespoon of salt per kilogram of fish. Cover the long pan and leave it to cool for at least half an hour before putting it in the oven. Drain most of the water that has been extracted from the fish ,but leave some water for steaming. 2. Add freshly ground pepper and cover the long pan with aluminum foil. Make sure that the aluminum foil is not in contact with the fish, as it may stick. There should now be enough liquid in the long pan after the salting to steam the fish. Bake lutefisk in the oven at 200 degrees celsius hot air for approx. 45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish pieces. it should be taken out of the oven just after the layers of the fish slide off each other, but way before it turns to jelly (this takes some practice as it is around 5-8 minute window to hit this sweet-spot). The sides are also very important: - Fried bacon in liquid bacon grease - Pea-puré - Boiled potatoes - Shredded brown goat cheese - Dabbed with strong mustard - Colman's mustard powder mixed with a very small amount of water is my preference And for drinks, you absolutley need the following: - Aquavit (scandinavian spirit based on dill) - A strong bitter beer (for example Newcastle Brown ale) Follow these steps, and I guarantee you will have quite another experience that what you see in this video - it will actually become the delicacy we enjoy every year in Norway.

[@HolahkuTaigiTWFormosanDiplomat]

0.0

[@stevelogan5475]

I'd give it try, i'm irish and i really like cod, but i hear the lutefisk is notorious for texture and fishy taste. The one thing that would turn me against trying it would be if it smells or tastes of ammonia, like some seafood is when preserved, then count me out. The news anchor lady said it is sometimes an acquired taste. I hear those odds are much higher than sometimes. Biggest problem, since i don't live in/near minnesota, but still in the u.s., is finding a restaurant that serves it. I have 0% experience cooking it so that would be a no go.

[@davidburlingame6583]

Not sure how different my grandma prepared it to other Scandinavian families but it's basically a gelatinous fish caked in butter and salt. Not much of a fishy taste. Every year when my grandma made bread rolls we would basically just use the lutefisk as butter on them. Appetizers: pickled herring on a wheat thin. Dinner: lutefisk on a bread roll Dessert: lefse filled with butter sugar and cinnamon

[@daginn896]

Just get the original in Norway. It taste completely different, and the sides are also different. In Norway it is served with bacon bits, mustards sauce, mashed peas etc. And the texture is not gelly like at all, that is a sign of bad quality. Nor should it taste very fishy. That being said, I can't understand why lutefisk have become the christmas food for Norwegian-Americans when most Norwegians eat Ribbe or Pinnekjøtt for christmas. Only a small percentage eat lutefisk.

[@ForfeMac]

It's super easy to make, steam it in a foil wrapped cake pan for ~30 minutes at 350 with a little bit of water, serve with potatoes and butter, or cream sauce, or bacon, or really any way you feel like. The hardest part is finding it outside of the upper midwest. Oh, and if it's the dried kind packed in lye, you have to spend a week washing it.

[@UgleZett]

Lutefisk is traditionally eaten with diced bacon, sprinkled with bacon or pork rib roast fat (never butter), stewed green peas and whole boiled first class potatoes, and with aquavit (a herb spirit) and beer rather than wine. Some also like "lefse" - a soft potato flat bread that you can either eat as is, or use to make wraps. Some even like Scandinavian style brown caramellized cheese called "brunost" - actually not a cheese because it has no casein in it, but is the reduced sugary whey after cheese production ... and/or syrup on top. I think it is delicious, but most people I know don't care too much for it, or fish as a whole, living around Lillehammer, which is about as far away from the coastline that you can be in Norway ;-)

[@JSmedic1]

I wanna learn how to make it. Where do I find the fish? Do I need to start all the way from scratch with the dried piece of fish?

[@gro_skunk]

UgleZett or just let Americans do it how they want, it doesn't really matter if people like it.

[@lenettahuntoon1249]

I guess that's one thing that has changed over time then or a regional thing. My family made it the same way their grandparents (immigrated to the US from Trondheim in the late 1800) made it, boiled potatoes on the side with white/cream sauce. Now I can eat my fill of lefse and klub. Lutefisk though....ewww I don't like fish to start with. My mom and each one of her brothers and sisters ate it like nothing since it was a normal food to them.

[@syntheticsandwich190]

It depends on what country you are from

[@jacksonchan6822]

thats some good camerawork. props.

[@user-ht4ye7tf1w]

Just amazing!

[@lunanotte9202]

So this is why people ask me if I am from Minnesota 😂. My grandfather's family is Norwegian. I make this every year. I also make Julegrot

[@jmfa57]

Mom used to make us choke this stuff down before we could open our presents on Christmas Eve. Certain childhood memories are GRIM.

[@robotnik77]

hahahahahahaha!!! I'm with you in your grim memory.

[@moodygal51]

Lol! Good thing i just always liked it! :)

[@s.s.curtis6914]

Like lutefisk humor? Check out Sven the Cat's lutefisk episode on his cooking show in Ch. 4 of "The Cats of Laughing Thunder in The New Businesses Adventure"

[@robotnik77]

Link??? Can't find it with Google. Bad hits.

[@crispychaos6768]

I know lye is used to make soap so lutefisk is soaked in it? Is it safe to eat? I've always wanted to try lutefisk, it looks good but I'm worried about the lye.

[@rustyshackleford1091]

It’s fine, it comes from wood ash.

[@mizv4043]

im down to try some

[@moodygal51]

Love lutefisk and lefse!

[@Ravnulv]

Cant eat lutefisk without lefse and akevitt!

[@robotnik77]

I had it when I was a kid, when my Grandma was still with us, but it's not something I go looking for in the store. I'm surprised they soak it in water instead of lye.

[@stevelogan5475]

Well, it has to be easy to work with at the commissary, it looks like rubber texture prior to cooking, lol

[@nurse956]

Not rubber but it is gele fish. Heheh

[@stevelogan5475]

I saw where someone said lutefisk is the same as canned stromburg, i don't think so, anyone on here know?, stromburg looks worse, folks back up when you open the can due to the odor

[@FPV-Jon]

Its not the same. The cod is first dried, then watered out, then put in lye, and most likely watered some more. The lutefisk in this film seems a bit off some how. Nut sure why. I suspect it was not dried enough first.

[@Odqvist89]

I believe it's Surströmming, fermented undersalted Herring, you mean?

[@jimbeekman4863]

You always have to smell it.. Before you can taste it. We are talking Lutefisk here but it applies to other fish too..

[@josephvandevander6848]

What happens to the bones again??

[@Thor.Jorgensen]

They are pulled out. It's deboned. But you can get unlucky and still find a few fish bones in there. If you do get bones in yours, it's not that bad, just a bit annoying.

[@grahamperkins6542]

From what I've heard of lutefisk you would love the Australian spread Vegemite

[@Analymous]

Vegemite was one of the worst foods I have ever tasted so I’m guessing I wouldn’t like lutefisk lol

[@Aaron_Smith_OM]

Not for me, BUT! Man do I love seeing people enjoy their culture and finding ways to keep it going.

[@adrian_veidt]

My grandpa got called stinky and arsonist because of this dish 😢

[@MeWantHoneycomb]

if prepped right, it's exactly like eating a lobster for way way way less money.

[@missball404]

whooo that looks yucky LOL!!! but cultural foods bring comfort & plenty of us have them

[@genericwhitemale1114]

missball404 Tastes yucky too. The only Nordic food that is nasty.

[@nurse956]

To be honest, the looks part isnt that yucky but the taste and eat part is much worse, lolzz. I cant even stand the taste. Lutefisk taste like a shit

[@salvymemeguy998]

Gotdangit Bobbeh u burned down the church

[@dkoz8321]

Can pregnant women eat it?

[@oldschooljack3479]

Now you know why the Vikings were so fierce... The poor devils were just looking for a decent meal after eating this stuff for centuries.

[@grzyruth9205]

People from Wisconsin be like: "yooo its sooo gooooood" *proceeds to drown it in sauce*

[@bettyboop4460]

Chopped brought me here

[@Mercito]

They will be surprised with me in Minnesota because I am black and Swedish

[@jamesfarrell7465]

Also known as cod jello. YIKES!

[@stevelogan5475]

Lol, wow

[@jong7258]

Lutefisk is not an Scandinavian tradition, it's a Norwegian, and spesially the North Norway tradition. These company in Minnesota have the fish wayyy to long in water, and You then get a fish that is like a pice of Jelly, and it's not good.! Melted butter on.?... USHH

[@gman-gx6gg]

I'm as Norwegian as they come honey Norway born and raised and I don't even touch the stuff

[@jeffreyjefferton6945]

get the olsen company out west!!!

[@Kothas01]

Well to start off with its the last thing you would eat if you had to. Its a right of self torture to eat it and act like you like it. Like putting a dog turd on the table.

[@chickenwing2.039]

that stuff is disgustang

[@user-kk7nr1jk3k]

I bet that place like a Giant Fart

[@timyoung1321]

That shit looks horrendous.

[@IAMTHEIC3MAN]

As a minnesotan, I can confirm it tastes just as bad as it looks.

[@nurse956]

It taste very shitty. I dont even recommend to taste it. Better to eat japanese and chinese sushi if u like raw fish taste etc etc

[@harald966]

I am norwegian, and im fucking disgusted by the fact that they are eating lutefisk with butter, its should be PEE PURÉ, BACON, POTATOES AND BROWN CHEESE ON TOP(the goat brown cheese is the best)

[@sueb1337]

I hope you meant Pea puré😉 Us Scandinavians eat a lot of weird stuff but that would be next level🤣

[@lops6179]

anyone else notice the white nationalist "great replacement" dog whistle about immigration?

[@pinmike8666]

No wonder Minnesotans get salty; what a downgrade from southern cooking! Even Connecticut has Minnesota beat in terms of food; New Haven-style pizza >>> lutefisk

[@k.anderson5039]

Most Scandinavian food is NOT that good. I went to this expensive Scandinavian restaurant called Aquavit in NYC & almost nothing was good . I’m glad the person who wanted to go was paying. It was a buffet so there were many options to try that is why I feel informed on this.

[@guitubagrips9719]

1. Minnesota nice, we are never salty 2. Of course pizza will be better than a stinky fish

[@nurse956]

I swear that lutefisk taste like shit. I have 5ried to taste it for 10 uears but nahh it looks yukky and it taste yukkyy. In Norway, it is mostly eaten by old people and even younger generation cant stanf the taste and it is not something that they will look for in restaurant. Norwegian food is pretty tasty but this lutefisk is just a no no. Even raw sushi taste much better.