GONE FISHING

A long walk with my friend Grete today, through her childhood woods, which are now being ruined by the building of the American Embassy. It's being raised on a huge corner of this lovely green area (now white), near the road where Grete grew up and right smack next to a sports hall, where hundreds of children do their activities every day. The Americans (with the Norwegian government's blessings of course) are moving the embassy out of the city centre due to terrorist risk, but they find it quite okay to place it next to a hall where children play. Where's the logic here?

Having got this off my chest for the time being, I want to talk about my dinner! Here it is:

Doesn't it look delicious? This is "Rakfisk" - a Norwegian fermented trout! I believe Norwegians are second only to the Japanese in eating raw fish, but we have to eat it processed in some way - preferably old and rotten!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakfisk

This is really a Christmas dish, and we order a bucket of it every year in October from the producer in a valley up country called Valdres, so that we are well prepared in good time for all the upcoming Christmas meals. Especially there's our big traditional friends and family party between Christmas and the New Year, when we serve a buffet (like a smorgasbord) - where "Rakfisk" is the main dish. We had one fish left over and have enjoyed it today!

  

This is what it looks like after I've fished it out of the bucket, before I clean it, remove the bones and cut it up. It's served with a LOT of raw red onion:

And of course accompanied by Aquavit. This is a specially made Aquavit supposed to go really well with the fish. I can assure you it does. My husband got this from a friend who's a "Rakfisk"-enthusiast and who throws an all-male party every December, where he serves five-six different "Rakfisk"-types, including one he's fermented himself. The guys have to do a blind test and vote! Yes, I agree - it's a bit crazy, but not an unusual pre-Christmas phenomenon here in Norway.  

It's served! Joined by sour cream, pickled beetroots, boiled potatoes and "lefse" (thin potato and wheat flour wrap). Okay. We have strange food. 

But then - every country in the world has its own strange food! It makes us bond! Nothing can make a better topic of conversation than food.