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mireille
2008-07-21 12:39 am UTC (link)

The fish in lutefisk isn't scary on its own--it's usually cod--but the texture it gets after being dried and soaked in lye (and then soaked in water to get out the lye) is fairly daunting, IMO. (And also the warnings like, "don't use silver utensils, because lutefisk ruins silver," and "do the dishes right away, because otherwise you'll never get the lutefisk off.")

Lots of people here like it. It doesn't taste bad. It's just weird.

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	ari_o 2008-07-21 01:28 am UTC (link)
	I've heard about it on PHC. I don't think I want it. I like fish. I like cod when it is broiled or made into fish and chips or something. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	mireille 2008-07-21 01:41 am UTC (link)
	I don't blame you. My ex-MIL threw a fit if someone didn't eat it at Christmas, so I ate it. I don't have to do that any more. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	krazycat 2008-07-22 02:10 am UTC (link)
	It is actually considered an acquired taste in Norway, too. It's not like the French and snails, most people I know have not had lutefisk, myself included. We have scarier food, though. Like smalahovud. I can't imagine eating it AT ALL. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ugh ari_o 2008-07-22 02:23 am UTC (link)
	OH GOD WHY DID I CLICK! ?????? I have to go drink heavily now. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: ugh krazycat 2008-07-22 02:28 am UTC (link)
	I don't understand how anyone can eat a sheep's head. I'm happy to report I've never seen one of these in real life. Only on teevee. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: ugh ari_o 2008-07-22 02:50 am UTC (link)
	I don't even eat meat--never mind faces. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Re: ugh solesakuma 2008-07-22 04:54 am UTC (link)
	My grandfather used to cook and then lick sheep's eyes. It turns out that the fat behind them it's delicious. Nobody else in the family was ever up to the challenge, anyway. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: ugh krazycat 2008-07-22 10:31 am UTC (link)
	...EWW (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: ugh -

ari_o, 2008-07-22 10:40 am UTC

Re: ugh -

krazycat, 2008-07-22 10:42 am UTC

Re: ugh -

solesakuma, 2008-07-23 12:57 am UTC

	barankhy 2008-07-21 02:37 am UTC (link)
	I can't decide which I want to taste first; lutefisk, surströmming or hákarl o_O (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	mireille 2008-07-21 02:40 am UTC (link)
	Lutefisk is the only one available here (at least by those names), in small-town Minnesota. (And I'm a transplant, so I only know what stuff is called in the supermarket. I'm the one looking for collard greens and rutabagas.) But no matter what I think of lutefisk, I know it didn't come out of a cow. g (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	barankhy 2008-07-21 03:57 am UTC (link)
	From what I've heard, lutefisk comes from hell. As does Evil Manifest. So, if chickens and lutefisk come from the same place, and chickens and cows both produce dairy, thus lutefisk = dairy. See, you're WRONG! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	mireille 2008-07-21 04:17 am UTC (link)
	I stand corrected. It is dairy. And evil. And to be avoided by the lactose-intolerant. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ari_o 2008-07-21 02:54 am UTC (link)
	I'm irrationally curious about the cheese and bacon paste you can get in tubes in Norway. (I may have gotten confused about the flavors or country here. But my brains says bacon and Norway.) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	barankhy 2008-07-21 03:48 am UTC (link)
	FOOD RAEP D: ~~We have cheese paste here, too. For cats.~~ Oh, crazy Norwegians. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	krazycat 2008-07-22 02:07 am UTC (link)
	Perfect for omelettes, I tell ya! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	sequinedlizard 2008-07-21 03:26 am UTC (link)
	Hákarl tastes like strong cheese to me - not bad, but certainly nowhere near as tasty as skyr :) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	barankhy 2008-07-21 03:47 am UTC (link)
	Iceland both intrigues and frightens me. Skyr sounds tasty, though. At least it's not made from poisonous fish. Then again, I was born and raised in Austria, and have been much more accustomed to lethally sugary pastry instead of fish, so what do I know? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	chibikaijuu 2008-07-21 08:12 pm UTC (link)
	I have a question - do all Austrians boil the life out of their vegetables, or is it just my grandmother? Since we're talking about food and all. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Possibly just your grandmother notbulgarian 2008-07-28 12:05 pm UTC (link)
	Although I've heard complaints that Austrian food doesn't taste of anything anyway. (an Austrian exile) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Possibly just your grandmother -

ari_o, 2008-07-28 01:36 pm UTC

	belafarinrod 2008-07-21 04:42 pm UTC (link)
	You're not missing out on the first two, I can tell you... Anyway, surströmming is mostly about the noxious smell, so you can often experience it just by standing near someone while they eat it ;) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	julesnoctambule 2008-07-21 05:34 pm UTC (link)
	Whichever one is the Icelandic air-dried putrefying shark! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	kattahj 2008-07-21 05:35 pm UTC (link)
	Lutefisk is really just jelly that tastes like fish. Eat it with lots of white sauce, peas and potatoes, and you can mostly forget it exists. There is no way to forget surströmming exists once you open the can. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	julesnoctambule 2008-07-21 05:35 pm UTC (link)
	Whichever one is the Icelandic air-dried putrefying shark! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	braisinhussy 2008-07-22 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	I want to try surströmming (the food that can pretty much be used as an ultimate weapon). But seriously, how does this not look tasty? (Reply to this)(Parent)

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