American’s have a penchant for humorous T-shirts. My father-in-law owns a shirt inspired by the Swedish heritage we share. It declares: “Lutefisk – The Piece of Cod that Passes All Understanding.”
Lutefisk, yes, well, if you’re not familiar, I’ll let you take a moment to peruse the interwebs to see what the fuss is all about … Much has been penned about this Scandinavian ‘delicacy’ that features dried cod reconstituted and gelatinized in lye. I have no words…
It’s really more of a former Scandinavian delicacy. Actual residents of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark long ago realized that it’s gross. It is (mostly) the American descendants of Scandinavia who tenaciously cling to the old traditions. However, it turns out there are more palatable ways to eat cod; Ella grew up eating “lutefisk” at holidays. Really, her family recipe was just salted, baked cod covered in cream butter sauce. What’s not to love? No wonder she never quite understood from whence all the lutefisk haters garnered their animosity.
Ella and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in Iceland a few years ago, a chance to reach back into her Scandinavian heritage for a few days. In the whirlwind of tourist sites, we stopped and revived ourselves at a coffee shop on the pier in downtown Reykjavik harbor. We dined on pastries and coffee, surrounded by locals, lamenting that we hadn’t scheduled a harbor tour to go see the puffins (Ella’s favorite). Next to our cafe sat the Reykjavik Maritime Museum. We took the plunge.
We spent about two hours perusing the collections of nautical paraphernalia. Icelanders are a maritime people and very proud of their fishing tradition. One of the final stops on our museum tour was an upstairs room devoted to the cod-fishing industry, featuring the actual equipment from a processing factory. The exhibit portrayed each step of the process, from catching, cleaning, drying or canning, to distribution–quite thorough in its descriptions. And all along the walls, we witnessed the glory and majesty of dried cod–thousands of dried fish heads. And now you get to enjoy one of them with us in the form of this photo. You’re welcome.
As you consider the importance(?) of a museum display in a far-off island nation, you may very well wonder to yourself, “Why is he writing about fish carcasses in Reykjavik, Iceland?” Valid question.
In my first foray into authorship, Dryland Lament (Please buy!), I told the stories of the High Plains and its people. Now, this blog gives me the opportunity to expand horizons, to tell the stories of people in other places. In this instance, it’s valuable to consider how the people of Iceland are shaped by their history, environment, food, weather, industries and culture. What struck us as humorous and a bit weird was, for Icelanders, worthy of national celebration.
Please keep reading. In our crazy military life, we’ve lived and visited many places. I’ll do my best to observe, learn, and portray meaning from them; always returning to our heartland roots. Please send comments, ideas, and your own stories. There’s much more to say.
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