page_title: Lutefisk
section_title: Origin
hierarchical_section_title: Lutefisk / Origin
caption_attribution_description: Fish drying racks in Svolvær, Norway
context_page_description: Lutefisk is dried whitefish. It is made from aged stockfish, or dried and salted cod, pickled in lye. It is gelatinous in texture after being rehydrated for days prior to eating.
  Lutefisk is prepared as a fish dish of several Nordic countries. It is traditionally part of the Christmas feast; Norwegian julebord and Swedish julbord, as well as the similar Finnish joulupöytä.
context_section_description: Preserved fish provided protein during the long winter months for generations in a part of the world with a strong fishing tradition. It is not known when people first started treating dried fish with lye. The reason was probably that the lack of major salt deposits in the area favored the drying process for the preservation of whitefish - a process known for millennia. 
  Stockfish is very nutrient-rich and  was consumed domestically, although it was during the boom in the stockfish trade in the late Middle Ages, that the product became accessible throughout Scandinavia, as well as the rest of Europe. The higher quality stockfish would be soaked in water, then boiled and eaten with melted butter. Lower grade qualities would be harder and more fuel consuming to boil and it has been suggested that adding ash from beech or birch in the boiling water, would break down the protein chains and speed up the process. The introduction of lye in the preparation process might therefore have been incidental.
caption: Racks for drying fish in Svolvær, Norway
exif: {}