The Intermediate Eater: This recipe's the clue to loving lutefisk

Stan Boreson's record was playing in the Scandinavian bakery in Stanwood where we stopped for lunch after our annual Christmas tree cut. All of Stan's holiday classics were included:

"Walking in My Winter Underwear."

And, "I Saw Hulda Kissing Uncle Sven."

The nostalgia almost makes you choke on your meatballs. That's what they were serving on the daily special. Alas, there was no coma-inducing aroma of lutefisk.

Don't laugh. Some people like lutefisk.

A reader named Michael Pletan didn't list that as one of his favorite foods when he was growing up. Or as he put it, "eating fish Jello wasn't the highlight of my year." But his late Norwegian father, Owen Pletan, requested it each year at Christmas and his son later discovered a method of cooking that actually made lutefisk edible.

"I decided to cook it like I would a piece of cod or snapper. It was wonderful, tender, flaky and flavorful." A friend who had recently immigrated here from Norway termed it the best lutefisk he had ever eaten. In his father's memory Michael calls this:

OWEN'S LUTEFISK
1 TO 2 POUNDS LUTEFISK

2 tablespoons olive oil

garlic salt

black pepper

dried dill weed

melted butter

(Lutefisk is available in ethnic markets, such as Scandinavian Specialties in Ballard.)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Cover the bottom of a pan with the olive oil and top with the lutefisk. Sprinkle with garlic salt, black pepper and dill weed, then shove into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, removing the instant the fish turns opaque and can be flaked with a fork. "The longer it is exposed to heat, the more likely you'll end up with fish Jello," Pletan warns.

Scandinavians traditionally pour hot bacon grease over their lutefisk and serve with boiled potatoes and white sauce. Michael prefers a melted butter topping.

I believe another Norwegian Christmas specialty, Sot Suppe, was invented to erase the taste of codfish and lye. It can be eaten hot or cold, as a dessert or for breakfast. This is the version favored by B. Janice Stamey, who was known as "the Knudsen girl" when she was growing up.

SOT SUPPE (SWEET SOUP)
SERVES FOUR TO SIX

1/2 cup minute tapioca

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 cup sugar (or less, to taste)

1 stick cinnamon

1 cup dried currents

1 cup seedless raisins

1 cup stoned dry prunes

1 cup chopped apple

2 cups grape juice

Add tapioca to boiling water, stirring frequently. Add the rest of the ingredients, except grape juice. Boil until fruit is tender. Then add grape juice. Remove cinnamon stick.

If served as a dessert, Sot Suppe is frequently garnished with whipped cream and chopped nuts.

OK, the party is over. Somebody wake up Uncle Sven.

John Owen writes "The Intermediate Eater" weekly. Contact him by e-mail at ieater@aol.com.

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