After The Lutefisk Is Over

Day 184: Many years ago now, my Norwegian fishing buddy and his wife invited me to one of the area's Scandinavian community lutefisk dinners. Now while most people will run as fast as they can AWAY from such an event, I welcomed the opportunity with open mouth. After all, life is too short not to try new foods. But lutefisk? Many of those rapid runners will protest that lye-soaked codfish shouldn't be classified as food. Oh well, I'll try anything once.

To make a long story short, it turned out I liked the stuff once I got past the gelatinous translucent look and the tendency for the material to bounce under application of fork pressure. To my ultimate surprise, it tasted like good cod, never mind the smell. Each year now, he and his wife again invite me to the lutefisk feed, served family-style, all you can eat. The meal includes mashed potatoes and cream gravy, Swedish (!) meatballs, carrots, pickled beets, and assorted crunchy vegetables. Afterwards, dessert arrives: a dixie-cup of orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream, two butter cookies and one beautifully embossed and rolled crisp krumkake.

It is the latter item which is made by this unusual implement from my own kitchen. You can never have enough krumkake.