Lutefisk: Minnesota Dish Lives On Despite Taste [VIDEO]

LITCHFIELD (AP) - Every holiday season, Minnesota Scandinavians flock to VFW clubs, church basements and community get-togethers to wolf down the frequently mocked fish called lutefisk.

America's rising foodie culture has inspired a new generation of chefs and adventurous eaters who tap into obscure ethnic food traditions. Even Scandinavian cuisine is sharing the spotlight.

But not lutefisk. The dish, a dried white cod reconstituted by soaking it in caustic chemicals, is a throwback that resembles a quivering hunk of white Jell-O. It manages to live on where people of Scandinavian descent are numerous.

At the VFW Club in the Minnesota town of Litchfield, retired custodian Dennis Voss says he learned to stomach it to please his Norwegian-American wife. The trick? Butter, and lots of it.

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