Its Christmas and we have so many wonderful national dishes in Norway that we just have to write about.

The most famous is Lutefisk

About Lutefisk on Wikipedia

Lutefisk is made from dried whitefish (normally cod, but ling is also used), prepared with lye, in a sequence of particular treatments. The watering steps of these treatments differ slightly for salted/dried whitefish because of its high salt content.

The first treatment is to soak the stockfish in cold water for five to six days (with the water changed daily). The saturated stockfish is then soaked in an unchanged solution of cold water and lye for an additional two days. The fish swells during this soaking and its protein content decreases by more than 50 percent, producing its famous jelly-like consistency. When this treatment is finished, the fish (saturated with lye) has a pH value of 11–12, and is therefore caustic. To make the fish edible, a final treatment of yet another four to six days of soaking in cold water (also changed daily) is needed. Eventually, the lutefisk is ready to be cooked.

Yummy;) First Norwegian lecture in “How to torture a fish in different ways”

Smalahove is another traditional dish, usually eaten around and before Christmas time, made from a sheep’s head. The skin and fleece of the head is torched, the brain removed, and the head is salted, sometimes smoked, and dried. The head is boiled for about 3 hours and served with mashed rutabaga and potatoes.

I love all food that is prepared with a flamethrower;)

Rakfisk

Leave the rakfisk for two to three months. Rakfisk is well conserved in the brine. When the fish is appropriately “rak,” you can put it into a fresh 4% salt brine, which will slow down the “raking” process. Another method for slowing it down is to put the tub in the freezer (or outside if cold enough) for some time. As long as the fish is lying in the brine it will not freeze.

Note that all recipes for rakfisk states that the fish must never be in contact with soil. This is very important because of the risk of the wrong bacteria growing in the fish, especially Clostridium botulinum which causes botulism.

The finished product does not need cooking but is eaten as it is. Rakfisk is usually served sliced or as a fillet on lefse, with raw onion, sour cream, and almond potatoes. Some also use mustard-sauce, a mild form of mustard with dill. Although not an everyday meal, approximately 500 tonnes of rakfisk are consumed in Norway annually.

It is not recommended that rakfisk be eaten by people with a reduced immune defense or by pregnant women.

We could actually have continued for a while more, maybe we will make a part two next Christmas

Tags: Christmas, Food, Lutefisk, Rakfisk, Smalahove

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 26th, 2009 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.