Velkommen
/vehl-kawm-ehn/
Welcome!
For
years, Christmas time for me meant Lutefisk (lute-fisk) and Lefse (leff-suh); Krumkake (kroo-m-kai-kuh) and Grot (Groot). Both
of my Norwegian and Danish grandmothers would make these traditional Norwegian dishes during the holidays.
As
a young girl, I loved the lefse and pastries, but you wouldn't catch me anywhere near the lutefisk. Lutefisk is a whitefish from the Nordic countries
that is traditionally prepared by having the fish dried then soaked in
cold water and lye for days until the fish is edible for cooking. More info on lutefisk here.
As
the lutefisk is cooking, the smell alone is strong enough to make a Viking grab his Norse helmet and run. Of course, a true Viking or Norski would never do
that.
You
might say the smell of its bark is worse than its bite!