O Lutefisk

[Hasse Admin Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Hasse]

"Rakfisk" - another fish -dish

As we were discussing lutfisk...

In Norway they once treated me with what they called "rakfisk" for xmas - the locals thought it was delicate. If possible this dish imho was even worse than lutfisk. Not even the "snaps" after every second bite could cure it...

Wonder why traditional fish dishes mostly taste or smell rotten? Were there no spices to hide the smell as spices originally did for the rutten meat taste?

[sune Registered Find all posts View Profile Close sune]

Rakfish or rakörret is rotten. I have heard that it's at trout that they bury in sand for a length of time until it is utterly rotten.

Rakörret is in fact related to surströmming and Chinese rotten eggs.

I think that in the days before freezers and canned food they had to preserve food by different kinds of fermentation. Some of these food have stayed on like surströmming, rakörret, sour milk, and so on.

I don't think people liked these foods, but they had no choice, so they got used to them.

Sune

[blbartlett Registered Find all posts View Profile Close blbartlett]

In re sour milk: I got a start of viili, similar to yogurt, while I was shopping at Finnware, the delightful Scandinavian gift shop in Astoria, OR, the other day. My viili is progressing well. I see through a Google search that starter is available for both viili and fil mjölk, a similar Swedish cultured milk, at: http://www.gemcultures.com/dairy_cultures.htm

Viili is a "Comfort Food" for some, an acquired taste for others. For yet another group, it is an abomination.

[sune Registered Find all posts View Profile Close sune]

"Viili" or "fil" as it is called in Swedish tastes better if you put sugar and cinnamon or ginger on it.

[June Pelo Senior Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close June Pelo]

fil

When we were growing up there was always filbunke in the cupboard. I liked it with sugar and cinnnamon and ate it with my cereal in the morning. My siblings liked to eat it plain. We didn't make it in a special bowl, but I have seen the picture of the bowl Lars Granholm posted on the Net. Here it is. My father's cousin once smuggled a starter from Finland - she put it in a small bottle in her purse and the Customs officer didn't see it.

June

[Gunnar Damström Registered Find all posts View Profile Close Gunnar Damström]

Falsk Lutfisk

Can't take all this wining any longer. Here is a recipe for falsk lutfisk. If this smell does not appeal to you, it is because you did not buy fresh fish!

Falsk Lutfisk

You need:

• 1 kg (about two pounds) of absolutely fresh cod fillets
• Cheesecloth.

In a large pot, bring three liters of water to a boil, dissolve 1/2 cup of salt. Place the cod fillets in the cheesecloth, suspend the package in the boiling water for two minutes, being careful not to scold yourself. Let the package drain for a couple of minutes, then place the filets on a serving dish. Serve hot with miniature peas, boiled Yukon gold potatoes and basic white sauce (Bechamel):

Sauce Bechamel:
Preheat a pint of whole milk. Heat two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. When the foaming subsides but before the butter browns, add two tablespoons of flour while stirring. Stirring constantly, add the hot milk gradually, allowing the sauce to thicken between the additions. Place on a low heat and let simmer for 3-4 minutes. Season with a pinch of fresh nutmeg, white pepper and salt.

Enjoy,
Gunnar

[June Pelo Senior Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close June Pelo]

False lutfisk

Where I now live I haven't found any lutfisk, so have used fresh cod instead.

June