A primarily Norwegian type of dried cod or ling or stockfish (not salted before it is dried) that is soaked in changes of water for about a week and then "luted" by adding caustic soda to the water. It is then cured in this "lye" for another 4 days or so. The fish will swell and become tender. After this it is again soaked in water for 4-5 days. It has an almost jelly-like consistency and may be baked and served with clarified butter or coated with white sauce and served with lefse, in which form it is a traditional celebratory dish served at Christmas, at Thanksgiving among Norwegian-Americans and other festivals. 1 kg dry fish makes about 5 kg lutefisk. In its finest form, lutefisk has a delicately mild buttery flavour and flaky consistency. In its not-so-fine form, it is reminiscent of fish-flavoured gelatin. Lutefisk is associated with hardship and courage. In Bergen the stockfish were wind-dried 500 years before Columbus sailed to the Americas.
Pollack. A member of the cod family found in the eastern and north Atlantic and weighing around 1 kg (2 lb). It is dark green above and has a protruding lower jaw. They have rather grey, flaky flesh and are often salted and dried or pickled and are also commonly used for making imitation shellfish foods. Treat is as you would cod. I have heard that Somerville and Ross, in the Irish RM, describe pollock as tasting like cotton-wool with pins in it.
