Lutefisk and Other Food Dares
April 5, 2010
•Le Cordon Bleu
•Minneapolis/St. Paul
• 0 Comments
Lutefisk and Other Food Dares
Sodium hydroxide is a strong chemical agent used to unclog drains, drill for oil, make paper, etch aluminum, and make soap. As you might guess, it’s also excellent for food prep. What? Pouring crystal chemicals down your drain doesn’t make you hungry? You must not be of hardy Scandinavian descent then. Either that or you’ve never been triple dog dared to eat lutefisk.
Lutefisk is a Scandinavian dish made from dried whitefish and soda lye or sodium hydroxide. The preparation is a week-long event of adding lye, daily water changes, and boiling that leads to a noxious smelling, gelatinous mass that vaguely resembles the fish that it’s made from.
Its origins are unclear with its first known written reference dating back to personal letters of Swedish King Gustav in 1540. What is clear, however, is that it’s a major food dare that many are happy to refuse.
Humorist Garrison Keillor states:
"Every Advent we entered the purgatory of lutefisk, a repulsive gelatinous fishlike dish that tasted of soap and gave off an odor that would gag a goat. We did this in honor of Norwegian ancestors, much as if survivors of a famine might celebrate their deliverance by feasting on elm bark. I always felt the cold creeps as Advent approached, knowing that this dread delicacy would be put before me and I'd be told, "Just have a little." Eating a little was like vomiting a little, just as bad as a lot."
Despite its Scandinavian lineage, more lutefisk is eaten today in the American Midwest than anywhere else in the world. Stop by church halls and kitchens throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas during the holiday season and you’ll likely find a pot-full waiting to be served to anyone willing to choke it down.
Haggis Anyone?
Even though the Vikings conquered and ruled the land that would eventually become Scotland, and even though Scandinavians still eat lutefisk without being forced to at the business end of a short sword, they still aren’t as tough and rugged as the Scots. Why? One word: haggis.
Haggis is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal or barley, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours.
Even most Scots would agree, not only is it displeasing to eat and look at, it’s incredibly popular. The Scots have even made it their national dish.
Tripe, Chitterlings, Menudo, Kishka, etc.
While we are on the subject of eating animal offal, let’s just make any dish from any culture that consists primarily of stomachs and/or intestines as a food dare. While many food purists, gourmands, and anthropologists might take a stand against such a generalization, the proof is in the pancitas.
Nearly every culture around the world has some sort of dish based on beef or pork stomachs and intestines. Some are bearable. Some are even good enough that you don’t have to be Andrew Zimmern (host of Bizzare Foods) to enjoy them. Most, however, never rise above their pedestrian origins as foods of necessity.
Today, the people around the world who truly choose to eat parts of an animal’s digestive system are those that can afford to choose otherwise. Cultural heritage and memory, however, have combined to make some of these dishes iconic cultural delicacies. See haggis above or chitterlings in the American South.
Is it really a coincidence that offal looks and sounds so much like awful? We dare you to find out.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Minneapolis/St. Paul offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs in the Minneapolis/ St. Paul, Minnesota area. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit http://www.Chefs.edu/Minneapolis-St-Paul for more information.
Le Cordon Bleu does not guarantee employment or salary. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. Le Cordon Bleu ® and the Le Cordon Bleu logo are registered trademarks of Career Education Corporation.