Mrs. Rannous
Footballguy
28.05 Lutefisk - Disgusting Food
Doesn't this look appealing? Who wouldn't want to eat gelatinous, lye-soaked fish?
Doesn't this look appealing? Who wouldn't want to eat gelatinous, lye-soaked fish?
It is made from aged stockfish (air-dried whitefish) or dried/salted whitefish (klippfisk) and lye (lut). It is gelatinous in texture, and has an extremely strong, pungent odor. Its name literally means "lye fish."
Mmmm. Now to make it "edible".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 a 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.
Doesn't that sound good?Who the heck does that to perfectly lovely cod, anyway? Who thinks this stuff up? Don't forget, if you soak it in the lye too long, it turns to soap. Yummy.When cooking and eating lutefisk, it is important to clean the lutefisk and its residue off pans, plates, and utensils immediately. Lutefisk left overnight becomes nearly impossible to remove. Sterling silver should never be used in the cooking, serving or eating of lutefisk, which will permanently ruin silver. Stainless steel utensils are recommended instead.
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