VeeshanVault

I just saw a show on eating contests on the Travel Channel and one was about Lutefisk. This one man ate 8 pounds of it to win one year. For those that don't know it's cod soaked in lye, yes LYE....the stuff Draino is made of. It's supposed to become jello like, taste like fish, and have the most horrible smell in the world. It's a delicacy in Norway, and the eating contest was held in the northern US. My questions are (1) Why doesn't it kill you? (2) Even if it doesn't why would you want to eat something that smells so bad? (3) Has anyone tried it?

I'm half swedish, my great great grandparents on my mother's side emmigrated to the U.S. so my scandinavian roots are still strong. Every christmas either my grandma or one of her sisters makes lutefisk. It's fucking terrible. I used to get force fed spoonfuls (yeah you can eat it with a spoon) of it as a kid, which is probably why I can't eat any fish at all now without wanting to yak all over the place.

Here's how things went every christmas until I was old enough to fight off my grandma.

GRANDMA: Here, have some lutefisk.

ME: I don't want any lutefisk.

GRANDMA: Try it, you'll like it.

ME: I have it every year, I don't want any.

GRANDMA: It's good, try it.

ME: I don't like it.

GRANDMA: It's tradition. Have some.

ME: But I really don- *GLOMP

ME: -barf-







*sound of my grandma ninjafeeding me lutefisk

Zygar seems to have a fetisch for scandinavian oddities!

The one day in months I look at VV and someone starts a thread on lutefisk. Must be some kind of karmic event.

Many of my buds know about my fascination with lutefisk...

The first time I had ever heard of this stuff was while I was watching King of the Hill. Little Bobby (that boy ain't right) ate the entire platter of it and his Grandfather, who gave his shins for his country, took the fall for it.

half norge here, my grandpa loves the stuff and i found it to be horrid...and i wouldn't say quite jello-like, it is kinda gooy with a stringy texture....just lovely stuff

surströmming is worse

It's a delicacy in Norway, and the eating contest was held in the northern US.

I object! It's not really a delicacy in Norway, it is more like a special interest food. Like nobody in my family can stand it, not even my mother who is a huge seafood lover.

Personally, I consider it nasty stuff I wont touch with a 10 foot pole.

Surströmming is probably the worst thing I have ever seen or smelled, it's rotten fish in metal jar for crying out loud! I can't imagine lutefisk being worse than that...

Omg hi Lalanae!

Lutefisk is VILE.

Swedes love that shit though. They put that and shrimp salad and surströmning and fucking jam on their hotdogs.

I ain't kidding you man, they fucking drown 'em in that shit, I seen 'em do it!

Edit: But Icelandic food is worse...hi, let's bury an animal carcass in the ground for a year and dig it up when it's nice and rotten and fermented and filled with bugs and shit, and then, guess what? then we're gonna eat it like the crazed whalekilling psychos that we are, mwahahaha!

From http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5324

Sperm counts differ by region. New York outproduces rural Minnesota, but both exceed California. Finns rank higher than Parisians, and Danes have the lowest sperm counts in Europe.

Coincidence? All those northern Euros/Atlantic states have some pretty funky habits.

Edit: But Icelandic food is worse...hi, let's bury an animal carcass in the ground for a year and dig it up when it's nice and rotten and fermented and filled with bugs and shit, and then, guess what? then we're gonna eat it like the crazed whalekilling psychos that we are, mwahahaha!

Don't forget to have the entire village piss on it first!

Danes don't really have any vile eating habits, we are just pussies I guess

Luckily no lutefisk but at christmas my grandma made silta with beat juice on the side, and potato sausage. Then for us picky kids she made a Jenny-O processed turkey loaf

Tegellan wrote:Danes don't really have any vile eating habits, we are just pussies I guess

I don't know if it's just a Danish thing or if other countries have it too, but salty licorice is disgusting.

salty licorice is disgusting

Word. One of my office minions offered me some the other day. If I hadn't dislocated my hackles when I saw it I would have punched him.

something else gross is that jewish fish thing i can't remember what its called but its sooooooo gross looking and its in "jelled sause"

Jewish Carp ( or similar? )

Flaked carp cooked in aspic and served as a quivering pile of fishy gel.

Spew.

gefilte fish......ewwwwwwwwww

God I hate lutefisk.

Went to school in North Dakota... and god when they figured out I was from the "old country" they all wanted to feed me the Great Norwegian Delicacy called lutefisk. I flatly refused and say no sane norwegian eat that anymore (vestlendinger er ikke "sane"), and that it was a poor mans meal from back in the 80s (as in 1880s) when they all (the poor) left for the upper midwest.

Danes have some awefull food. That brick they call bread comes to mind. Eating it is like chewing on a cement block.

It's gefilte fish. It's horrible stuff I've always refused to eat on principle. What kind of self-respecting fish would come ground up in a ball and get packed in murky brown gelatine. Ugh, my parents use to put horseradish on that crap.

I can't stand any of the "questionable" fishes. My wife's family always has cod and scungili christmas eve. I utterly wretched trying the latter

So.... no one answered the question, why won't it kill you?

Gefilte fish reminds me of something i might see a cat throw up

Marbus wrote:So.... no one answered the question, why won't it kill you?

sodium hydroxide - caustic soda - lye
It's diluted enough that it doesnt harm you. It was also used in making soap in the old days. And in waste water treatment plants today and in purifying processes.

i was bored and found this
http://www.seattlepress.com/print-1105.html

Ya, it was used in soap.

If it was deadly in small quantities my parents would have killed me at an early age through either bathing, or during thier efforts to clean my dirty mouth.

Pilsburry wrote:Ya, it was used in soap.

If it was deadly in small quantities my parents would have killed me..........during thier efforts to clean my dirty mouth.

you're kidding, I always thought the whole washing mouth with soap was more of a scare for kids, kinda like the witch that will come and take you away if you're behaving badly

your folks really did that?

Drasta wrote:i was bored and found this
http://www.seattlepress.com/print-1105.html

That's Ballard for you.

What everyone in the US that eats Lutefisk has forgotten though, is that it takes liberal amounts of AquaVita to stomach the crap. Of course a few shots of Aquavita and you can eat or drink anything ....

Ennia wrote:

Pilsburry wrote:Ya, it was used in soap.

If it was deadly in small quantities my parents would have killed me..........during thier efforts to clean my dirty mouth.

you're kidding, I always thought the whole washing mouth with soap was more of a scare for kids, kinda like the witch that will come and take you away if you're behaving badly

your folks really did that?

I have been fed soap on numerous occasions in my youth.

It's not just a scare tactic any longer!

all i know is Pata Negra (sp) Jamon is gods food

Ennia wrote: your folks really did that?

Yes, they do. I got pink Dove, bitter and salty, but with 99% real moisturizing cream.

Ya, I was a pretty good kid though so it didn't happen often.

I do remember one incident though....as captain of the irrelvant I feel it my duty to share it with you.

I was in the process of losing my teeth and I was at my Grandfathers house talking to my cousin about a FORT me and my friends had built in the woods behind my house. My Grandpa thought I said FART, which still wasn't even worthy of a mouth washing.....yet somehow I got my mouth washed out because I had bad pronounciation due to my missing front teeth.

And because I was resisting it (mainly by trying to explain the misunderstanding, which meant my mouth was moving) I managed to rub the bottom of the bar with the bottom teeth that hadn't fallen out yet, which just as some of you know, makes it so much worse because those chunks kinda stick there, you can't spit it out quickly.

Oh I was so pissed.

Pilsburry wrote: And because I was resisting it (mainly by trying to explain the misunderstanding, which meant my mouth was moving) I managed to rub the bottom of the bar with the bottom teeth that hadn't fallen out yet, which just as some of you know, makes it so much worse because those chunks kinda stick there, you can't spit it out quickly.

Yes, that has to be the worst thing about getting your mouth washed out. Even worse though is when it got ground in on your molars. *shudders*

Not that the thought of people using the bathroom and then using that soap to clean their hands wasn't bad enough.

This explains a lot about y'all..

Even worse if they grabbed the soap from the tub.

You know the whole last thing you washed business and all....

Here's an interesting article I just found.....

http://www.davethefox.com/words/0112lutefisk.htm

Norwegians buy more frozen pizzas per capita than any other nationality. They consume 13,000 tons of frozen pizza annually — an average of more than five and a half pounds of cheesy goodness for every man, woman, and screaming toddler.

I did not know that..........

Most Olives are cured in a lye solution

are you sure that frats don't consume more pizza?

Sadly I've had far too much lutefisk in my life

Fyndina wrote:God I hate lutefisk.

Went to school in North Dakota... and god when they figured out I was from the "old country" they all wanted to feed me the Great Norwegian Delicacy called lutefisk. I flatly refused and say no sane norwegian eat that anymore (vestlendinger er ikke "sane"), and that it was a poor mans meal from back in the 80s (as in 1880s) when they all (the poor) left for the upper midwest.

Danes have some awefull food. That brick they call bread comes to mind. Eating it is like chewing on a cement block.

hahahahahaha, what school?

Fyn went to UND, Grand Forks.

the place from hell. Down Under and Winnipeg was about the only redeeming values.

btw akvavit = aquavita. Means water of life in Latin if I am not wrong.... originaly made by monks

Stragi wrote:

Fyndina wrote:God I hate lutefisk.

Went to school in North Dakota... and god when they figured out I was from the "old country" they all wanted to feed me the Great Norwegian Delicacy called lutefisk. I flatly refused and say no sane norwegian eat that anymore (vestlendinger er ikke "sane"), and that it was a poor mans meal from back in the 80s (as in 1880s) when they all (the poor) left for the upper midwest.

Danes have some awefull food. That brick they call bread comes to mind. Eating it is like chewing on a cement block.

hahahahahaha, what school?

Ack i went to Park River High School in of course Park River 17 miles ermmmm west of Grafton.. went to my senior year at Red River High School in Grand Forks in '85..

went to UND for one year in 86.

Dude, you do NOT disrespect the licorice...

There will be repercussions.

The article said frozen pizza.

Frat boys don't cook, they order in.

Dude, you do NOT disrespect the licorice...

There will be repercussions.

Someone should look into the connection between salty liquorice and low sperm counts

Dude!

Hey I'm just joining the dots here. . .

Never had lutefisk THANK GOD, but the licorice is the yum.

I had my mouth washed out with soap once at a day care. I think I lasted about a week in day care. Which was much longer than my day-long stint at pre-school.