Loved this story. Your description of the fish made me laugh. And I loved the ending. I could see the smile on the waitress and how it reflected your grandmother back to you.
Such a charming story. My husband grew up in Minneapolis and I have heard horror tales of Lutefisk by way of the Norwegian side of his family. I'm glad you had a tasty meal on your trip to Norway!
Thank you, Vicki! 😊 I hope you’ve never had to try lutefisk...it used to be a sort of hazing ritual for people marrying into the family, but Nick escaped it lol
Oh! I believe your grandma must have been my mine! I, too, remember the aromas wafting through house, the attempt to wash the palate with melted butter and mysteriously white "gravy." We did our duty and survived on Swedish meatballs and hoped we'd find the almond in the rice pudding.
Wonderful story, Sam. I survived similar in central Minnesota.
Mark! How funny that you’re a fellow lutefisk survivor! Ah yes, the melted butter…we always had a big gravy boat of it on the table, as if that would somehow make the lutefisk better. We sadly never did the almond in the pudding thing, though—I always wished we had!
Amazing story, Sam. Didn’t know you were Norwegian. Funnily enough, Romanians have our own lutefisk, a mass of jell-o filled with bits of pork and other kinds of meat called piftie, which smells awfully garlicky. We always make fun of that dish, but thankfully nobody ever forced me to eat it. I only have a vague idea of how it tastes, and I’d like it to remain that way
Oh wow I just Googled piftie...yikes!! Lutefisk is more of a metaphorical meat jell-o, but this is a literal one! Funny that piftie also seems to be served at holidays. I’m glad no one ever made you eat it lol
An absolute delight of a story, Sam. Lutefisk on the menu is like Proust’s madeleine moistened in tea, summoning a whole world of childhood memories via a fish dish that sounds detestable yet hilarious, with a beloved grandparent at its center. I think there must be many dishes that almost everyone hates but continue to be served because they’re central to a beloved tradition. Of course that sparks some memories of my own!
Thank you, Ruth!! Isn’t it amazing how many memories can be contained in a single dish? I would love to hear more about the memories this sparked for you ☺️
It never matters how much people complain about traditional dishes like this, it always makes me want to try them. Sort of the gastronomic "wow this really stinks, smell this" effect.
😂 I kind of get that actually. The only thing is it’s tough to get...we always had to special order it from a local deli a month or so in advance. Or maybe just use it as an excuse to go to Norway?
Norway always has some of the best scenery, when I was on exchange, i was planning to go hike in the Fjords but didn't get the chance to do it. When I was in Sweden though there was a disgusting herring, that they had called Surstromming, I never had it, but the rumors that I've heard scared me from trying it. Is it similar to Lutefisk. Has Nick tried Lutefisk before, if he did what was his reaction?
I hadn’t heard of surstromming and had to google it--it looks like surstromming is fermented, where lutefisk is dried and cured, then rehydrated. Surstromming honestly sounds a lot worse (apparently it’s super pungent, and given the choice between that and lutefisk, I’d take lutefisk). And Nick has actually managed to escape the Christmas lutefisk!! He started joining my family for the holidays the year we stopped eating it...he should consider himself lucky, lol
☺️ thank you, Patricia! Food can bring back such strong memories...I think we all have specific dishes that we associate with certain people/events, even if those dishes aren’t necessarily good, haha
This is so sweet! Your grandma sounds delightful; maybe it was worth it to choke down the lutefisk to make her happy. And I'm glad you found some Norwegian food you like! I had some friends who lived in Bergen for 9 years. They were grad students, so I guess they couldn't afford to eat out much, but they said the food was unbearably bland. The highlight of their culinary life was when some tall ships -- yes, tall ships from the 18th century -- pulled into the harbor, bringing foreign cheeses.
Oof, it would be tough to put up with bland food for so long!! Eating out in Norway is eye-wateringly expensive, so it does make sense that they wouldn’t be doing that much as grad students. Nick and I did find one cheap sausage stand in Bergen, and luckily it was excellent!
Loved this story. Your description of the fish made me laugh. And I loved the ending. I could see the smile on the waitress and how it reflected your grandmother back to you.
☺️ thank you, David! I had a lot of fun pouring my long-held feelings about lutefisk onto a page, haha
This was amazing Sam - and thank you for warning me to stay away from lutefisk forever!
Thanks Tom!! Hahah you are very welcome--I feel it’s by duty to keep others from being victimized by lutefisk
Such a charming story. My husband grew up in Minneapolis and I have heard horror tales of Lutefisk by way of the Norwegian side of his family. I'm glad you had a tasty meal on your trip to Norway!
Thank you, Vicki! 😊 I hope you’ve never had to try lutefisk...it used to be a sort of hazing ritual for people marrying into the family, but Nick escaped it lol
Oh! I believe your grandma must have been my mine! I, too, remember the aromas wafting through house, the attempt to wash the palate with melted butter and mysteriously white "gravy." We did our duty and survived on Swedish meatballs and hoped we'd find the almond in the rice pudding.
Wonderful story, Sam. I survived similar in central Minnesota.
Mark! How funny that you’re a fellow lutefisk survivor! Ah yes, the melted butter…we always had a big gravy boat of it on the table, as if that would somehow make the lutefisk better. We sadly never did the almond in the pudding thing, though—I always wished we had!
Amazing story, Sam. Didn’t know you were Norwegian. Funnily enough, Romanians have our own lutefisk, a mass of jell-o filled with bits of pork and other kinds of meat called piftie, which smells awfully garlicky. We always make fun of that dish, but thankfully nobody ever forced me to eat it. I only have a vague idea of how it tastes, and I’d like it to remain that way
Oh wow I just Googled piftie...yikes!! Lutefisk is more of a metaphorical meat jell-o, but this is a literal one! Funny that piftie also seems to be served at holidays. I’m glad no one ever made you eat it lol
An absolute delight of a story, Sam. Lutefisk on the menu is like Proust’s madeleine moistened in tea, summoning a whole world of childhood memories via a fish dish that sounds detestable yet hilarious, with a beloved grandparent at its center. I think there must be many dishes that almost everyone hates but continue to be served because they’re central to a beloved tradition. Of course that sparks some memories of my own!
Thank you, Ruth!! Isn’t it amazing how many memories can be contained in a single dish? I would love to hear more about the memories this sparked for you ☺️
It never matters how much people complain about traditional dishes like this, it always makes me want to try them. Sort of the gastronomic "wow this really stinks, smell this" effect.
😂 I kind of get that actually. The only thing is it’s tough to get...we always had to special order it from a local deli a month or so in advance. Or maybe just use it as an excuse to go to Norway?
Norway always has some of the best scenery, when I was on exchange, i was planning to go hike in the Fjords but didn't get the chance to do it. When I was in Sweden though there was a disgusting herring, that they had called Surstromming, I never had it, but the rumors that I've heard scared me from trying it. Is it similar to Lutefisk. Has Nick tried Lutefisk before, if he did what was his reaction?
I hadn’t heard of surstromming and had to google it--it looks like surstromming is fermented, where lutefisk is dried and cured, then rehydrated. Surstromming honestly sounds a lot worse (apparently it’s super pungent, and given the choice between that and lutefisk, I’d take lutefisk). And Nick has actually managed to escape the Christmas lutefisk!! He started joining my family for the holidays the year we stopped eating it...he should consider himself lucky, lol
You are a wonderful storyteller!
Thank you so much for this kind comment, Domenica ❤️
Really lovely.
Thank you, Michael 💕 hope you are well!
So sweet and beautiful and fun. I loved reading about you and your grandmother and the lutefisk. Oh the ties that forever bind us!
☺️ thank you, Patricia! Food can bring back such strong memories...I think we all have specific dishes that we associate with certain people/events, even if those dishes aren’t necessarily good, haha
This is so sweet! Your grandma sounds delightful; maybe it was worth it to choke down the lutefisk to make her happy. And I'm glad you found some Norwegian food you like! I had some friends who lived in Bergen for 9 years. They were grad students, so I guess they couldn't afford to eat out much, but they said the food was unbearably bland. The highlight of their culinary life was when some tall ships -- yes, tall ships from the 18th century -- pulled into the harbor, bringing foreign cheeses.
Oof, it would be tough to put up with bland food for so long!! Eating out in Norway is eye-wateringly expensive, so it does make sense that they wouldn’t be doing that much as grad students. Nick and I did find one cheap sausage stand in Bergen, and luckily it was excellent!
This is so wonderful, funny, and relatable. Beautiful Christmas writing xx
Thank you for this sweet comment, Aoife 💕
Awwww Sam, love everything about this. You are a delight
❤️❤️❤️ thank you, Trilety! I hope all is well with you 🤗