Lutefisk

Well, friends, after time-traveling back to 2014, I am once again in the land of smoked salmon and patterned sweaters. I find myself surprisingly relieved to be back. You know, I realized I'm learning to recognize Norwegians in a crowd. Just as Americans wear North Face and Germans wear Jack Wolfskin, anybody found with a Helly Hansen jacket in public is probably Norwegian.

My Lutefisk dinner

I got caught up on my work at IRIS yesterday and then headed out for a special dinner with my housemates in the evening. Jonathan, the same guy who had the idea to eat sheep head (Smalahove) in Voss, suggested we go out for Lutefisk. Now, Lutefisk is of course another traditional Norwegian dish, but it's not nearly as disconcerting as Smalahove. It's just plain old cod. The fish is soaked in cold water and a basic solution called lye for about two weeks. The caustic solution causes the fish fillet to lose much of its protein content and take on a gel-like consistency. After being cooked, the fish is served with bacon, mashed peas, and potatoes.

To me, the cod didn't have any flavor at all. It just took on the flavor of everything around it, much like tofu in a stir fry. I suppose some people may have a hard time with the texture, but to me it just seemed a little firmer and less flaky than normal fish. I would absolutely eat Lutefisk again.

Besides getting to try another typical Norwegian dish, dinner was great because I got to hang out with my housemates. We're an incredibly diverse group, but we manage to live with each other and get along quite well. Being part of the house community has actually been one of my favorite things about life in Stavanger. It was a great night.

Kirkebakken love