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.
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