Oh I loved this so much! I've heard of lutefisk but had always assumed it was something like Egyptian fiseekh, which is a salted fish that's eaten with pita bread. I actually really loved it when I was little and I buy salted herring in jars now and then to get something similar (I don't have the first clue where to buy fiseekh here).
I didn't realize you were part Norwegian but it makes all the sense in the world. I think you inherited her cheeks and hair...
I think it is a little bit like fiseekh!! I remember when I first moved to Egypt and heard about fiseekh I was like “OMG, they have lutefisk here 😳” and I never tried it due to my Christmas trauma, ha. We always got lutefisk as a filet, but it can also come in jars probably similar to what you buy, and i imagine it’s better that way because then it’s marinated.
And yes, I think so too—all of my grandma’s grandkids got her eyes that kind of disappear behind the cheeks when we laugh! It doesn’t always look the best in pictures but it makes me think of her ❤️
Beautiful, when I was in Norway this past summer, I wondered how American descendants of Norwegians connect to their history and ancestors. America seems to wipe out heritages so easily at times. This read feels like a wonderful nod to your history.
Thank you, Janet! ❤️ going to Norway was such an interesting experience—I’ll be the first to admit that I have very little understanding of modern Norwegian culture, yet so many things there felt eerily familiar. I half expected to not find lutefisk in Norway at all, thinking maybe it was something from the distant past that Norwegian Americans had held onto because of a need to feel a cultural connection. Obviously I was quite wrong!
Beautiful essay! I'm in Norway right now aboard the Hurtigruten Coastal Express. I can understand why you nearly licked your plate; I'd never had reindeer before, and wow - it's delicious. (After reading your post, I understand why they've not served lutefisk on the ship.)
Thank you, Tui ☺️ I hope you’re having an incredible time—we didn’t get that far north when we were in Norway, so I’m envious of your Hurtigruten journey. Enjoy the reindeer!
Oh my gosh, Samantha! The ship served lutefisk tonight — although earlier in the day at the culture lecture, they admitted it’s an acquired taste and even shared the lutefisk song. I thought of you as I tried a small piece. Shockingly, it was… ok! Of course, I cheated by adding some mustard sauce to it. Anyway, it’s not something I’d order in a restaurant, but glad I tried it.
What funny timing!! Glad it wasn’t too traumatic to taste it! Admittedly I’ve probably built it up in my mind to be worse than it is, lol. Hope it’s been an amazing trip for you.
We’re on the same Dickens wavelength this week I wrote about the ghost of Christmas abroad.
I loved this memory of your grandma. It’s mind-boggling to me the things Northern Europeans do with fish. Here in the Netherlands it’s just raw herring, which is actually pretty tasty, at least for the first few bites until the texture catches up with you. But I had fermented shark in Iceland once, and I don’t think I’ve completely recovered yet.
Thank you, Sarah! I’ve heard of the Icelandic fermented shark dish, and I think you’re a braver woman than I for even trying it! And your piece on Christmas abroad just reminded me of how much I need to get to Malta while I’m in this part of the world…
People find no end of ways to render the unrenderable into tasty delights. Take stink flipper, please. “Stink flipper, an unusual Alaskan food made from seal flipper that has been decomposing for six months, tastes like the fat on a beef brisket and melts in your mouth.”
They always say things like that. Melts in your mouth. Melts in your mouth? It probably melts in that napkin you spit it into and deposited in your pocket, which you forgot about until you smelled something truly disgusting in your closet, and it can’t be blamed on your cat because you don’t have one.
Me? I like a good salad, yet I also like durian and Limburger cheese, so I’m not completely adverse to disgusting food.
“It probably melts in that napkin”—or melts a hole THROUGH the napkin if it’s rank enough. We once tried to put some lutefisk in tin foil to save for an uncle on my dad’s side who had heard our complaints and wanted to give it a try. By the next morning, the lutefisk had eaten holes in the tin foil 😬
Oh the memories you brought back. My dad is half Norwegian and we had lutefisk around Christmas time. I like it, but then I had butter salt and pepper to it. I'm 70 now and my father has passed and my mom is not doing well, I would love to relive those memories. We do make it once in a great while. I need to get some now. 'Berta
It’s so funny how food can evoke some of the strongest memories—you just reminded me that there was always a big boat of melted butter on our Christmas Eve table for the lutefisk! I hope you find some soon. Happy holidays, ‘Berta ❤️
Marco here, Samantha. "Gamalost" or "old cheese" is another acquired Norwegian taste that my Grandmother's family always swore by. Fortunately we never spent Christmas with them!
Hi Marco! I’ve actually never tasted Gamalost, but I’m a big fan of most cheeses and I love brunost, which I know is also kind of controversial, haha…I’ll have to give it a shot! Happy holidays!
Thank you so much for this sweet comment! ☺️ interestingly, my grandmother didn’t like to talk about Norway all that much. As I understand it, she went a couple times as a young girl to visit extended family (she grew up in Minnesota in a pretty insular Norwegian-American community). That would’ve been in the late 1930s, I think, so her memories of Norway were from the Great Depression/ the era when Norway was still quite poor, and she never gave the impression that it was a very pleasant place to visit back then. She did go back to visit again when she was much older—probably in the mid 2000s—and I so wish I had asked for her thoughts on how much things had changed!
Oh I loved this so much! I've heard of lutefisk but had always assumed it was something like Egyptian fiseekh, which is a salted fish that's eaten with pita bread. I actually really loved it when I was little and I buy salted herring in jars now and then to get something similar (I don't have the first clue where to buy fiseekh here).
I didn't realize you were part Norwegian but it makes all the sense in the world. I think you inherited her cheeks and hair...
I think it is a little bit like fiseekh!! I remember when I first moved to Egypt and heard about fiseekh I was like “OMG, they have lutefisk here 😳” and I never tried it due to my Christmas trauma, ha. We always got lutefisk as a filet, but it can also come in jars probably similar to what you buy, and i imagine it’s better that way because then it’s marinated.
And yes, I think so too—all of my grandma’s grandkids got her eyes that kind of disappear behind the cheeks when we laugh! It doesn’t always look the best in pictures but it makes me think of her ❤️
Beautiful, when I was in Norway this past summer, I wondered how American descendants of Norwegians connect to their history and ancestors. America seems to wipe out heritages so easily at times. This read feels like a wonderful nod to your history.
Thank you, Janet! ❤️ going to Norway was such an interesting experience—I’ll be the first to admit that I have very little understanding of modern Norwegian culture, yet so many things there felt eerily familiar. I half expected to not find lutefisk in Norway at all, thinking maybe it was something from the distant past that Norwegian Americans had held onto because of a need to feel a cultural connection. Obviously I was quite wrong!
Beautiful essay! I'm in Norway right now aboard the Hurtigruten Coastal Express. I can understand why you nearly licked your plate; I'd never had reindeer before, and wow - it's delicious. (After reading your post, I understand why they've not served lutefisk on the ship.)
Thank you, Tui ☺️ I hope you’re having an incredible time—we didn’t get that far north when we were in Norway, so I’m envious of your Hurtigruten journey. Enjoy the reindeer!
Oh my gosh, Samantha! The ship served lutefisk tonight — although earlier in the day at the culture lecture, they admitted it’s an acquired taste and even shared the lutefisk song. I thought of you as I tried a small piece. Shockingly, it was… ok! Of course, I cheated by adding some mustard sauce to it. Anyway, it’s not something I’d order in a restaurant, but glad I tried it.
What funny timing!! Glad it wasn’t too traumatic to taste it! Admittedly I’ve probably built it up in my mind to be worse than it is, lol. Hope it’s been an amazing trip for you.
What a great essay, Sam!
😊 thank you, Lisa!
We’re on the same Dickens wavelength this week I wrote about the ghost of Christmas abroad.
I loved this memory of your grandma. It’s mind-boggling to me the things Northern Europeans do with fish. Here in the Netherlands it’s just raw herring, which is actually pretty tasty, at least for the first few bites until the texture catches up with you. But I had fermented shark in Iceland once, and I don’t think I’ve completely recovered yet.
Thank you, Sarah! I’ve heard of the Icelandic fermented shark dish, and I think you’re a braver woman than I for even trying it! And your piece on Christmas abroad just reminded me of how much I need to get to Malta while I’m in this part of the world…
Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Such a warm and cozy feeling, reading this. 🙂 Wishing you a lovely Christmas season, Samantha!
Thank you, Michael ☺️ wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!
People find no end of ways to render the unrenderable into tasty delights. Take stink flipper, please. “Stink flipper, an unusual Alaskan food made from seal flipper that has been decomposing for six months, tastes like the fat on a beef brisket and melts in your mouth.”
They always say things like that. Melts in your mouth. Melts in your mouth? It probably melts in that napkin you spit it into and deposited in your pocket, which you forgot about until you smelled something truly disgusting in your closet, and it can’t be blamed on your cat because you don’t have one.
Me? I like a good salad, yet I also like durian and Limburger cheese, so I’m not completely adverse to disgusting food.
Merry Christmas, Samantha.
“It probably melts in that napkin”—or melts a hole THROUGH the napkin if it’s rank enough. We once tried to put some lutefisk in tin foil to save for an uncle on my dad’s side who had heard our complaints and wanted to give it a try. By the next morning, the lutefisk had eaten holes in the tin foil 😬
Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Merry Christmas to you all, too, and I hope your New Year is as happy as I am planning for mine. I have some big things on the horizon.
Exciting! I hope we’ll get to see some of those things on Substack!
Oh the memories you brought back. My dad is half Norwegian and we had lutefisk around Christmas time. I like it, but then I had butter salt and pepper to it. I'm 70 now and my father has passed and my mom is not doing well, I would love to relive those memories. We do make it once in a great while. I need to get some now. 'Berta
It’s so funny how food can evoke some of the strongest memories—you just reminded me that there was always a big boat of melted butter on our Christmas Eve table for the lutefisk! I hope you find some soon. Happy holidays, ‘Berta ❤️
Marco here, Samantha. "Gamalost" or "old cheese" is another acquired Norwegian taste that my Grandmother's family always swore by. Fortunately we never spent Christmas with them!
Happy Holidays!
Hi Marco! I’ve actually never tasted Gamalost, but I’m a big fan of most cheeses and I love brunost, which I know is also kind of controversial, haha…I’ll have to give it a shot! Happy holidays!
Thank you so much for this sweet comment! ☺️ interestingly, my grandmother didn’t like to talk about Norway all that much. As I understand it, she went a couple times as a young girl to visit extended family (she grew up in Minnesota in a pretty insular Norwegian-American community). That would’ve been in the late 1930s, I think, so her memories of Norway were from the Great Depression/ the era when Norway was still quite poor, and she never gave the impression that it was a very pleasant place to visit back then. She did go back to visit again when she was much older—probably in the mid 2000s—and I so wish I had asked for her thoughts on how much things had changed!