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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1988)
Dear Mr. Claus: We ran out of cookies, so here’s my lutefisk. By Sandy Little Emerald Contributor Take a moment and think about some of our many American Christmas tradi tions, like trimming the tree or burning the Yule log. The thought of writing Christmas cards, shopping, singing Christmas carols, or perhaps seeing Rudolph save, or the Grinch steal Christmas for the fifteenth time can still evoke memories of Christmas's many continuing traditions. But some of these customs, which help to shape our sense of cultural identity, are not always the pleasant, pain less rituals they are cracked up lo be. Eating Lutefisk on Christ mas is a tradition that has sur vived in my own family for as many years as I can remem ber As a youngster, I crusa ded against this traditional Northern European dish with the fervent zeal that most ado lescents reserve for spinach and liver. My plea to exchange my plate of "Lute" for a three piece dinner from Kentucky Fried Chicken fell on unsym pathetic ears. “Colonel Saunders In not a Swede. You are. Eat your Lutefisk." For those who have never had the pleasure, Lutefisk is a specially prepared cod fish that is smothered in white sauce and served with pota toes. Preparing the cod for the Christmas table is an elab orate process says Dwight Collins, owner of Newman's Fish Market, which annually sells about 4000 pounds of Lutefisk during the holidays. The fish is shipped in the form of dried salt cod which has been cleaned and de boned. For three days the fish must be soaked to strip away the salt. At that point lye is added to the bath to allow the fish to reconstitute from its dehydrated state. This takes about two days. Eventually the now gelatinized cod fillets are soaked for a final three days to wash out any remain ing lye Collin's notes that Photo by Janie* Mirksi Dwight Collins, owner of Newman's Fish Market, prepares the market’s 1988 batch of Lutefisk. "Lutefisk is strictly an ethnic dish and is not the kind of thing we would sell to any cu rious customer. Most people who buy it, know what it is and have had it before. According to Thomas Dahle, president of The Sons of Norway lodge in Eugene, the Lutefisk tradition has ac tually held stronger in the U.S. than in the European coun tries from which it came. For the past 35 years The Sons of Norway lodge has served a traditional Lutefisk dinner with all the trimmings some time around Christmas. Dahle says that between 700 and 1000 people American de scendants of Northern Euro pean ancestry will be served. Newcomers are always wel come to this event that prom ises to be a unique cultural experience. Call Ed Andersan at 896-3821 for more informa tion. "The tradition seems to be dying slowly.” says Collins. "The younger generation in the area are not picking it up the way the older generations do. Each year the amount of Lutefisk sold seems to be less and less.” The loss of the Lutefisk is a fact that is saddening as I grow older. I have come to un derstand my family's insis tence. This year I look forward to the Christmas tradition of Lutefisk, in the same way that I look forward to all of Christ mas' traditions. This tradition al fish survived many years to give the children of today a taste of their ancestry. A Christmas toast to its perse verance. Special Honaay season hours ^ n STUDENTS! SAVE TIME, HASSLE & MONEY! 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