Lutefisk - Culinary Catastrophe

For those of you who have never heard of lutefisk, it is a Norwegian delicacy of dried cod that has been soaked in a lye solution before boiling to give it a gelatinous consistency. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? I tend to look at Lutefisk like I do certain Scottish delicacies...it most likely started off as a dare. Coming from both Norwegian and Scottish origins, I figure I'm entitled to at least some opinion on such matters. I mean really, what were they thinking? Dig a hole in the ground, throw in some dried raw cod fish, cover it with lye, bury it, dig it up six months later and call it dinner? It kind of reminds me of a saying that I've heard regarding Scandinavians and their relationship to food: "Norwegians eat to live, Swedes live to eat, and the Danes eat to drink." Now I'm not sure about the Swedes and the Danes, but if Lutefisk is representitive of the best of Norwegian cuisine, then no doubt the part about Norwegians is true. In any case, I am not knocking all Norwegian cuisine. There are many Norwegian "treats" that I absolutely love and at sometime will hopefully be able to share with you in posts. But in terms of this particular delicacy, my advice would be: "Lutefisk, just say no!"