Christmas Hams Surprise

[gmc2003]

No lutefisk? That was a staple in our house for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.

I'm mostly Norwegian, and thankfully dad never made us partake in the lutefisk tradition. We substituted pickled herring on Christmas and New Years. Better tasting from what I hear.

Chris

 

[SmokinEdge]

Beautiful ham for sure. The rest of the table looks like a long nap. Amazing feast.

 

[Sven Svensson]

What a spread. Food coma worthy meal

Oh the ham.
I periodically make loin ham and it was game changing after learning the pasteurization method from @daveomak to retain moisture.

I'm mostly Norsk, but a couple items are new to me.
Never heard of limpa bread. We had rye bread or Julekake (ok not the same).
Jansson's Temptation we just called scalloped potatoes.

No lutefisk? That was a staple in our house for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.
Me neither! Cannot stand the stuff.

Pasteurizing hams has been a game changer for me. They’re amazing and a huge thanks to @daveomak for that.

I’m from both sides of the border in Scandahoovia. Limpa and Jansson’s Frestelse are a Swedish thing. Jansson’s is supposed to have anchovies or some kind of tinned fish in it which sets it apart from scalloped potatoes. We are not fans of fish so to get the umami taste I use mushrooms instead. I also add cheese. So, yes, it’s Jansson’s in name only, haha.

Lefse and lutefisk are more Norske. Lots of Swedish friends have never heard of lefse. But in my homeland of Minnesota most Scandinavians blend the two cultures at the table. I make my own lefse every year because I can’t find it in California. Lutefisk is something I’ve always disliked and will never be served at our house. Haha!

 

[Fueling Around]

Pasteurizing hams has been a game changer for me. They’re amazing and a huge thanks to @daveomak for that.

I’m from both sides of the border in Scandahoovia. Limpa and Jansson’s Frestelse are a Swedish thing. Jansson’s is supposed to have anchovies or some kind of tinned fish in it which sets it apart from scalloped potatoes. We are not fans of fish so to get the umami taste I use mushrooms instead. I also add cheese. So, yes, it’s Jansson’s in name only, haha.

Lefse and lutefisk are more Norske. Lots of Swedish friends have never heard of lefse. But in my homeland of Minnesota most Scandinavians blend the two cultures at the table. I make my own lefse every year because I can’t find it in California. Lutefisk is something I’ve always disliked and will never be served at our house. Haha!

A blend of both lineages (and cultures) in NW Minnesota where I was born and raised and now live again (summers only now) after being gone for over 20 years. Spent over 16 years in Seattle and lefse was sold in Safeway. Oddly it was (is?) Mrs Olson's Lefse which also comes from MW Minnesota. The Edevold family is good friends.
Ballard is a heavily Scandinavian area of north Seattle. Pickled herring in wooden barrels and lefse common. Used to find lutefisk in the 80's but it was getting rare by the 90's.

Side story, I was flying from MN back to Seattle after Christmas and I had some foil wrapped packages of my Mother's lefse in my carry-on. The screener at the airport asked to open my bag. I replied "Oh, the foil wrapped lefse." She replied, "I knew that shape looked familiar." Handed me my bag and said "have a good flight".
All proper lefse starts circular and is folded in half 3 times to make a triangular shape to package.
BTW, your lefse looks really good.

 

[Fueling Around]

I'm mostly Norwegian, and thankfully dad never made us partake in the lutefisk tradition. We substituted pickled herring on Christmas and New Years. Better tasting from what I hear.

Chris

3/4 Norsk and 1/4 Swede here. (Father's father married a Swede.)
About 30 years ago there was more lutefisk produced and consumed in Minnesota than all of the rest of the world combined. Lord help me to know why someone would ruin perfectly good Norwegian cod by salting, drying, pickling in lye, then rehydrating to make a jelly fleshed fish. The odor is so powerful, my mother used the same porcelain kettle to soak and cook lutefisk and nothing else.

 

[Sven Svensson]

A blend of both lineages (and cultures) in NW Minnesota where I was born and raised and now live again (summers only now) after being gone for over 20 years. Spent over 16 years in Seattle and lefse was sold in Safeway. Oddly it was (is?) Mrs Olson's Lefse which also comes from MW Minnesota. The Edevold family is good friends.
Ballard is a heavily Scandinavian area of north Seattle. Pickled herring in wooden barrels and lefse common. Used to find lutefisk in the 80's but it was getting rare by the 90's.

Side story, I was flying from MN back to Seattle after Christmas and I had some foil wrapped packages of my Mother's lefse in my carry-on. The screener at the airport asked to open my bag. I replied "Oh, the foil wrapped lefse." She replied, "I knew that shape looked familiar." Handed me my bag and said "have a good flight".
All proper lefse starts circular and is folded in half 3 times to make a triangular shape to package.
BTW, your lefse looks really good.

Great story! I knew Seattle has a big Swedish population and it’s funny it’s Mrs. Olson’s. I buy it every time I’m back in MN. I found a new lefse recipe this year that minimized the amount of flour used and I modified one part of it to include an initial Sous vide of the potatoes. It turned out amazing with tons of potato flavor. I grew up
In Buffalo, just NW of Minneapolis on Hwy 55. Buffalo is positioned too close to the cities for a bathroom break or a food stop so you just drive thru Buffalo to where it is you’re going. Haha.

 

[Sven Svensson]

I'm mostly Norwegian, and thankfully dad never made us partake in the lutefisk tradition. We substituted pickled herring on Christmas and New Years. Better tasting from what I hear.

Chris

The joke was that the Swedes stole the Norwegian’s cod and soaked it in lye to kill them but the Norwegians loved it.

 

[Sven Svensson]

3/4 Norsk and 1/4 Swede here. (Father's father married a Swede.)
About 30 years ago there was more lutefisk produced and consumed in Minnesota than all of the rest of the world combined. Lord help me to know why someone would ruin perfectly good Norwegian cod by salting, drying, pickling in lye, then rehydrating to make a jelly fleshed fish. The odor is so powerful, my mother used the same porcelain kettle to soak and cook lutefisk and nothing else.

I could never relate to the phrase “the wonderful smells of the holidays” as ours was dominated by the smell of lutefisk. I can’t eat fish or stand the smell to this day. Folks will say, “You’re Scandinavian and you hate fish? Why?” My answer is “Lutefisk abuse.”

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Sven, nothing short of phenomenal! Seriously awesome thread and you can be my neighbor anytime lofting that scent into the air! Very nicely done bud! And you are spot on, Pop’s brine is awesome! Nice thread man!

 

[tbern]

lol, enjoying all the Minnesota stories part of this thread too!!

 

[Sven Svensson]

lol, enjoying all the Minnesota stories part of this thread too!!

One of my favorite lines I say out here is “I was born in Minnesota and lived there for 30 years. No one told us we could move.”