Discover the haunting caustic soda fish. Although it sounds like a convoluted method of suicide, it is not. It is a very appreciated dish in the scandinavian countries. What role does a fire play in its creation according to legend? Let's see it.
Cod for the dark
It's summer. With him come the white nights to the northernmost corners of Europe. During these, the sun hardly sets. Just the opposite of winter, when there is barely a couple of hours of daylight. How did the ancient Vikings survive during these months? One of the keys was the development of different fish conservation systems. The most peculiar of all is called lutefisk. We mean the legendary caustic soda fish.
Caustic soda? It is with her that the soap. How come they mix fish with a totally toxic chemical compound? The process has its intricacies, so you better not risk it. We emphasize that our recommendation is that you buy it already made. The long process begins by dipping the fish (usually cod) in cold water during five or six days. We must bear in mind that it is convenient to change the water several times during this phase.
The next thing will be to immerse it in a solution of cold soda water for two more days. This time it is not changed. Thus, a chemical reaction will begin that will make the fish grow. Even above its initial size. However, the protein content will drop by fifty percent. This is the reason for its gelatinous consistency. At the end of this treatment we find ourselves before a fish corrosive. For! Your next step will be to immerse it four to six days with cold water if you want to make it edible. You must change it daily.
How to cook caustic soda fish?
It is likely that each time we emphasize the soda you less want to try it. In case we have not deterred you, you should know the most basic ways of cooking it that exist. After preparation, yours is saturate the lutefisk of water. We must cook it carefully so as not to destroy it. It is best to place it in a pan, salt it, seal it well and let it steam over a very low heat. The recommended time is twenty to twenty five minutes.
If you like fish Baked you're lucky. You can also put it in a source, cover it in aluminum foil and leave it to 225 º. The time required will be, in this case, between forty and fifty minutes. Keep in mind that you should immediately clean the utensils that you have used to cook it. You better if you want to use them again.
Although the caustic soda fish comes from Norway, is also typical of Sweden. There he calls "Lutfisk". That is, they remove the -e. In Finland, for its part, it is known as "Lipeäkala". We must also comment that it is not uncommon to see it in Canadian and American towns of Nordic origin. The usual thing is to start consuming it from November.
Myths and legends about its origin
There are many theories about its origin. One of the most talked about is a legend. According to this, a family consisting of two parents and three children, lived in lofoten, Norway. They were hard-working people who tilled the land in the spring and harvested in the summer. By September they had ready the dried fish that they would eat in the dark months. However, come the other year, they realized that they would only eat salted fish during the dark. Heavy summer rains had ruined most of the harvest.
Without warning, a rayo fell on his barn. This one collapsed. It fell under its own weight as the beams caught fire. The result was heaps of fish buried under a layer of ash. There was no other, so they tried to save them by putting them in water. To his surprise, its size had doubled. They blamed the miracle on the gods, to which they were very grateful.
The explanation to this phenomenon can be found in the movie of "Fight club". It is a fact that the mixture of water and ash produces lye, a compound quite similar to soda. In the movie, Tyler It explains how in the past they washed clothes in the area of the river where the holocaust had been consummated after a sacrifice. And you? Would you be able to eat cod that you know has spent days submerged in water with caustic soda?
