Pawaru-Grahmata

№ 91III. nodaļa

Rotšķēris

  • Serves 4
  • 1 hour, starting from ready-made lutefisk
  • Melnraksts · vēl nav izmēģināts

1796Rohtschkehris.

Modernizētslpp. 182–184 · PDF 196–198
4 porcijas

Lye-cured stockfish (lutefisk) with egg-yolk sauce

The book gives 6 egg yolks and a small handful of flour (about 20 g) for the sauce, an overnight soak, 1 to 24 hours in lye and 24 hours' rinsing; the other amounts below are ours.

Method

5 soļi
  1. Rinse the lutefisk in cold water and cut it into portions of about 150 g. Roll each piece up with the skin on the inside and tie it with string, as the book does; this holds the soft fish together.
  2. Put the rolls in a wide pan, cover with cold water and set over low heat. Heat very slowly, without letting it boil, until the water just begins to bubble at the edges, about 85–90 °C; this takes 20–30 minutes. Lutefisk falls apart if it boils.
  3. Lift the rolls into a colander and leave them to drain thoroughly for a few minutes; lutefisk holds a lot of water. Remove the string, pick out any bones, sprinkle with the salt, shake gently and lay in a warm dish.
  4. While the fish heats, make the sauce: put the yolks, butter, flour, pepper and mace in a small heavy saucepan and stir in the wine or water. Stir over low heat until it thickens and just begins to bubble, 6–10 minutes. Keep stirring so it doesn't catch or curdle.
  5. Pour the sauce over the well-drained fish, or serve it in a sauce boat.

Notes

What the book says vs. what we added

the book has you buy a white, good stockfish, beat it hard with a wooden pestle or the back of an axe and soak it overnight in river water. A strong lye is boiled from wood ash and left to settle and cool; the water is poured off the fish and the clear lye poured over it. The fish, scaled, stays in it until soft: an hour is enough if the lye is strong (slippery) and bites into the fish, otherwise a day and a night. It then lies 24 hours in river water, changed many times, to draw the lye out. Then it is cut into pieces, rolled with the skin inside, tied with thread and set in a pot of river water at a distance from the fire for 2 hours, just warming, until the side nearest the fire starts to foam and bubble. It is drained, boned, salted and shaken in the colander. The sauce is 6 egg yolks, a good piece of butter, a small handful of fine wheat flour, pepper and mace with a little wine or water, boiled on the coals until thick, poured over or served separately in a sauce boat. Other sauces (cream, small turnips, green peas or mustard) are in the chapter on sauces. Using ready-made lutefisk and heating it on the hob are ours.

Lye

lye made from wood ash, like the caustic soda used today, is strongly alkaline and burns skin and eyes. We don't recommend making lutefisk from scratch at home; buy it ready to cook. If you do make it, wear gloves and goggles, use glass, enamel or stainless steel (never aluminium), and rinse the fish for several days.

The book's timings

Norwegian lutefisk today is soaked in water for 5–6 days, in lye for 2–3 days and rinsed for 4–6 days. The book's overnight soak and 1–24 hours in lye are much shorter, so its fish was probably firmer.

Without lye

stockfish soaked in cold water for 3–5 days, changing the water daily (in Italy it is sold ready-soaked as stoccafisso ammollato), can be cooked the same way. It stays firmer and needs 15–20 minutes at a bare simmer.

*Rotšķēris* is the Norwegian rotskjær (German Rotscher): cod split open and dried in the wind without salt.

Serving

1.5 kg of lutefisk looks a lot, but it is mostly water. In Norway it comes with boiled potatoes, mushy peas and bacon; the book's own alternatives include green peas and mustard sauces.

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