Definition: Lutefisk, long a holiday food tradition among Scandinavian-Americans, is dried stockfish (normally cod or ling, but haddock and pollock can also be used) that has been brined in lye, soaked to remove the resulting causticity, and then steamed until it flakes (although it still looks and feels gelatinous). It is typically served with a warm cream or butter sauce and copious amounts of beer or aquavit.
Pronunciation: LOO-teh-fisk
Alternate Spellings: Lutefisk (in Norwegian); Ludefisk (in Danish); Lutfisk (in Swedish), Lipeäkala (in Finnish)
Examples:
(From a novelty American folksong by Red Stangeland, sung to the tune of "O Tannenbaum"): O lutefisk, O lutefisk, how pungent your aroma / O lutefisk, O lutefisk, you put me in a coma.
