Tag: fish

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Catch, Move and Release

By Bernie Hunhoff

Steve Nelson and grandson Howie pull a fish from a stock dam before relocating it to a new pond suffering from die-off.

Fish inhabit about half of South Dakota’s 100,000 stock dams and small ponds, thanks in small part to longtime South Dakota promoter Steve Nelson and his grandson, Howie.

Nelson, who lives in Pierre, became a fan of stock dams nearly a half-century ago when he explored Roy Houck’s buffalo ranch, northwest of Fort Pierre in Stanley County. The Missouri River reservoirs hadn’t yet developed as world-class walleye fisheries, so anglers were then more likely to search for small bodies of water to fish.

As a tourism leader, Nelson often worked with the state Game, Fish & Parks Department to help families find a place to cast a line. Today the Glacial Lakes country and the four Missouri reservoirs get most of the attention from tourism officials and anglers, while stock dams are unappreciated treasures.

Nelson continues to do what he can to promote the dams — not by publicizing them, these days, but by catching fish in dams that are overstocked and transferring them to new dams or to ponds that suffered a die-off. Usually, he’s assisted by his grandson Howie, 12, and by some of Howie’s friends.

Three years ago, they learned about a dam that suffered a fish kill because a farmer accidently sprayed an alfalfa field nearby.”We restocked it the next year, and the fish are doing really well,” he says.

Winter kill is the most common threat to fish life in smaller ponds.”Ideally a pond would be 15 to 20 feet deep, but if they get under about nine feet and you have a hard winter with a lot of snow cover on the ice then you don’t get photosynthesis and the water can become oxygen-dead,” he explains. When that happens, Nelson and his young associates wait until the water level is once again high enough to sustain aquatic life and then they introduce more fish.

Walleye fishing can be complicated and tedious for some youth, while pond fishing is exhilarating.”Howie and his friends just like to catch fish,” he says.”They don’t always care what kind of fish or how big. They want some action. One day we caught 50 bluegills in an hour. As soon as the bobber hit the water it was going down.”

Most of South Dakota’s stock dams are on private land, so permission may be required to fish them. However, Nelson says South Dakota has five million acres of public land with hundreds of ponds — including three national grasslands in West River country and state-owned lands scattered throughout the state. Some of the public waters now have boat docks, restrooms and fishing piers.

Most small ponds and dams can be fished from shore, although Nelson says a small boat may be helpful in late summer when the water warms and fish concentrate in the deepest part of the pond, which is usually the center.

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the May/June 2022 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call (800) 456-5117.

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That’s No Lye

By Fran Hill

Last month, I ate lutefisk for the first time. I ate cod that had been dried, soaked in lye, rehydrated, rinsed, and then boiled and served with melted butter. At Summit’s 80th Lutefisk Supper, I filled my plate with mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, coleslaw, cranberries, lefse spread with butter and sprinkled with sugar, and a large gelatinous pile of lutefisk drenched in butter. I had seconds. And thirds. Dare I say that I liked it?

It’s no secret that I have been a devoted sushi fan for many years, but somehow my exposure to the Norwegian delicacy of lutefisk had been non-existent. My friendship with Laura Johnson Andrews, South Dakota Magazine‘s Departments Editor, pretty much made this a sacrilege. Laura’s blood pumps with melted butter and Jell-o-like cod. Her adoration piqued my interest, and I am thankful to report that she shared my first lutefisk adventure with me. It won’t be our last.

While Laura and I have Summit’s Lutefisk Supper penciled in for next year (and are taking suggestions for other community and church dinners to check out), it is safe to say that lutefisk isn’t something that I will make at home. I will leave that to the professionals.

At home, I will stick with Torsk. This cod dish has been a favorite from the menu of an area steakhouse for many years. Creating it at home is not nearly as labor intensive as removing lye from lutefisk. Torsk is flaky and has none of the sometimes off-putting gelatinous texture. Traditionally, Torsk is seasoned with paprika, but my husband prefers the seasoning that the steakhouse uses in their preparation. It adds a kick to the mild flavor of the fish.

Torsk may not have the history, tradition, or aroma of lutefisk, but it is an excellent simple dinner to tide me over until Laura and I head out for our next lutefisk adventure.

Don’t like the idea of fish soaked in lye or the sometimes gelatinous texture of lutefisk? Flaky torsk is a delicious substitute.

Torsk

6 FROZEN cod fillets (This is not a mistake. This preparation is from frozen. Do not defrost.)

6 cups water

2-3 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons salt

1 1/2 cups butter, melted

paprika or steak seasoning

Preheat broiler and brush a baking sheet with some of the melted butter.

Dissolve the honey and salt in a cup of hot water. Arrange the FROZEN fish in a large saucepan and pour the water mixture over the fillets. Add the additional 5 cups of water (make sure the fish is covered; add additional water, if necessary). Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Fish should be soft, but not yet flaky.

Remove the fillets from the water, and blot with paper toweling to remove excess water. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and brush each fillet with roughly 1 tablespoon each of melted butter. Season with paprika or steak seasoning.

Broil for approximately 8-10 minutes, or until the fillets are golden and flaky. Serve with the remaining melted butter for dipping. (Serves 6)

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and their three dogs ranch near Colome.

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Catfishing With Nata

By Rebecca Johnson

Nata Jones and her husband Brad enjoy fishing at Apple Tree, a peaceful bay by the Missouri River east of Springfield.

Catfishing is a popular sport for Yankton residents because the wild Missouri River flows just south of town. There are tricks to landing the wily cats, and to cooking them. But it’s nothing you can’t learn. Ask Nata Jones.

Nata is a native of Chernivtsi, a city of some 240,000 people in the Ukraine. She met Brad Jones of Yankton while vacationing in Minneapolis, and within a year she left her chocolate store and was married at the Chapel in the Hills near Rapid City.”It was a beautiful wedding at a wooden church in the mountains,” she recalls warmly.

Nata Jones

She liked South Dakota even before she discovered the Missouri River.”I love small town people. Everybody is so friendly and smiling. You don’t need to worry about nothing,” she says with a charming European accent.”If something happened, everybody would help me.”

She applied for three jobs and was amazed to find herself with not one but three. She tried to balance them all for month, but eventually chose to be a certified nursing assistant at Avera Yankton Care Center, a nursing home on Eighth Street, not far from the river. She loves to visit with the residents, and she likes her co-workers.”I never have a day when I want to stay home,” she says.

Not that she doesn’t like home. She and Brad live in a wooded area near Lewis and Clark Lake.”The first year I am here we see millions of geese come by,” she exclaims, still with wonder in her eyes.”I see by the house deer, turkey, raccoon. I never see this in Ukraine.”

And then there are the catfish and walleye.”I fished in the Ukraine, too, but this is a little bit different here,” Nata says.”In the Ukraine I don’t have time and beautiful place to go. Now I just come home from work and if it’s sunny out (Brad and I will) go.”

Their Chesapeake Bay retriever, Rex, always goes along.”He is very important fisherman,” says Nata.”He likes to jump from the boat ramp and just fly into the water.” Rex is also an environmentalist; he swims below the surface to retrieve discarded plastic bottles and then deposits them on the bank.

As Brad and Nata Jones concentrate on fishing, their dog Rex enjoys chasing bull frogs and retrieving plastic bottles from the Missouri River bottom.

Nata and Brad fish for whatever finned creatures are available but Nata proclaims catfish her favorite, explaining it’s the most expensive fish in the Ukraine. Channel cats seek areas where fast water becomes slow. Brad finds the perfect, clear water channels either by boat or along shore.”He is the real professional. He knows all the secrets,” Nata says. They use stink bait from a local bait shop to lure the bottom feeding fish, because the whiskered swimmers will generally eat anything they can catch in their mouths but their strongest sense is smell.”(The stink bait) smells very, very bad but this is what catfish like,” the angler says with a laugh.

Reeling in food for dinner is the ultimate goal but that is not Nata’s definition of a successful expedition. She doesn’t care if they get a bite. They enjoy the boat ride or the time ashore. She can’t imagine ever moving from this home near all her favorite fishing spots.”When my husband retires, he wants to leave to Montana or Yellowstone,” says Jones.”I said no because we have such a beautiful place here. We cannot leave.”

Baked Catfish with Onions and Tomatoes

Here’s one of Nata’s favorite recipes for catfish, although it can be used with any white fish. Baking times vary according to the thickness of the fish.

2 lbs. catfish

1 medium onion, diced

2 large tomatoes, diced

2 tsp. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Remove all skin and cut fillets into 8 pieces. Place into lightly greased baking dish. Saute onions in olive oil until translucent. Add tomatoes and cook until soft, stirring often. Spoon mixture over fish and lightly salt and pepper. Bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees or until fish flakes easily with a fork. (Sometimes Nata replaces the two large tomatoes with 3 coarsely shredded carrots for a twist on this basic recipe.)

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the May/June 2012 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call (800) 456-5117.

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Forbidden Fish

By Fran Hill

While watching television one evening, a commercial for instant mashed potatoes caught my attention. As the camera pans across a table laden with food, an announcer mentions the plate of fish sticks that are to be served up for dinner with that creamy bowl of potatoes, and I am a goner. Every. Single. Time. I want those fish sticks. Forget the fake mashed potatoes; I need those fish sticks.

I believe that I can trace the yearnings for fish sticks back to my childhood. Those breaded chunks of pressed together, flaky, white meat were a special meal for rare occasions when my father wasn’t home. Fish (and poultry) were not on his list of favorite foods, and seldom served when he was at the head of the table. Fish sticks weren’t exactly forbidden, but they might as well have been — and we all know how the desire for something grows exponentially when it is outlawed. Logic tells me that fish sticks aren’t really that good. But cravings are never logical, are they?

Thankfully fish is no longer prohibited from my table. If I wanted, I could have fish sticks every day of the week. Also, thankfully, I know that with only a bit more effort than it takes to pour a box of frozen rectangles onto a baking sheet, I can have fish that is much more delicious. Roasted Cod with Panko is also prepared in the oven, but the lemon and parsley seasoned crumb topping is better than any manufactured breading. It’s quick, easy and it more than delightfully satisfies any fish stick craving.

Roasted Cod with Panko

(adapted from Fine Cooking)

1 cup panko bread crumbs

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

6 1- to 1-1/2-inch-thick cod fillets

Heat oven to 425F.

Combine panko, butter, parsley and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Line a heavy, rimmed baking sheet with parchment. (I have had luck with the non-stick aluminum foil, also.)

Arrange the fish on the baking sheet and season on all sides with salt and pepper.

Divide the crumb topping among the fillets, pressing lightly to adhere.

Roast until the breadcrumbs are browned and the fish is cooked through, 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of the fish. (Serves 6)

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and their two dogs ranch near Colome.

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Swimming Upstream

By Fran Hill

This year.

*sigh*

Am I right?

Even before politics got super crazy and the world got weirder, I was struggling with 2016. It has been the year that I can’t keep up. Sure, I did have a major surgery half way through, and recovery wasn’t exactly the piece of cake that I assumed it would be. But I can’t blame everything on health issues. Seriously. I just can’t keep up.

I haven’t given up. I plan. I try. I trudge ahead. I struggle. I fail. Nothing goes according to schedule. I have cut back and lessened my expectations. Still, I fall behind.

I feel like I am swimming upstream all the time. Every little success is punctuated with an,”Oh, crap. I forgot about that other thing.”

But hey. Salmon swim upstream, and they make it. In fact, they make it especially delicious when they are smoked, thinly sliced and paired with herbed cream cheese. I may not be keeping pace with everything, but my appetizer game is still strong. The recipe for Smoked Salmon Stacks is part of my arsenal of simple nibbles that come together easily and dare my guests to be impressed. If I have to swim upstream, I am in good company.

Smoked Salmon Stacks are a simple appetizer and perfect for a New Year’s Eve party.

Smoked Salmon Stacks

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1-2 tablespoons of sour cream

1 garlic clove, minced

Zest of one lemon

3-4 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped

Pinch of salt

6 large flour tortillas

1 tablespoon spreadable butter

12 ounces thinly sliced smoked salmon

Combine cream cheese, 1 tablespoon sour cream, minced garlic, lemon zest, dill and salt. If the mixture is too stiff to easily spread, add the other tablespoon of sour cream. (This will depend on the brand and temperature of the cream cheese.)

Spread one flour tortilla with one-fourth of the cream cheese mixture. (If you are cutting into squares for presentation, you don’t need to spread cream cheese to the edges. But I do, and the trimmings become a snack for the cook.) Arrange a single layer of smoked salmon over the cream cheese. Spread a second flour tortilla with a very thin layer of butter. (This is the glue to hold the stack together, but you don’t need much. These aren’t Butter Salmon Stacks.) Place that tortilla butter side down over the salmon. Spread another layer of one-fourth of the cream cheese mixture. Again, a thin layer of salmon over that. Finish with another lightly buttered tortilla placed over the salmon.

Repeat with the remaining ingredients for a second salmon/tortilla stack.

Wrap each stack in plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours (and up to 72 hours). The filling should set and become firm enough to easily cut into squares. (I used a ruler and cut 1-inch strips that were then sliced into 1-inch squares.) Serve speared with toothpicks and lemon wedges on the side, if desired.

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and their three dogs ranch near Colome.

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A Gem of Incredible Flavor

By Fran Hill

It is no secret that my husband and I love asparagus. We anxiously wait for those first sprouts in our garden, and Hubs’ harvests from his wild asparagus hunts across the countryside are legendary. These green stalks are a staple of our spring and early summer menus.

However, Hubs has requested all area friends and family to locate another vegetable for harvest: horseradish. No South Dakota homesteader garden was complete without a clump of this leafy green plant. It grew well on the prairie, and the roots were pulled, grated, preserved in vinegar and used to create a flavorful sauce that complements numerous culinary creations. Our area is dotted with many original homesteads that still carry the remnants of life in those times. Hubs hopes to either find plants that he can transplant to our garden, or simply harvest some of the roots.

In addition to being a gem of incredible flavor, horseradish can also be considered one of nature’s remedies. Cooler soil temperatures promote the pungency of the spicy horseradish, so early spring or fall and winter harvests provide optimal flavor. It is a happy coincidence that those seasons often plague people with allergies and colds. The aroma of freshly grated horseradish is a proven sinus clearer.

Horseradish is traditionally paired with beef, but I recently included our precious asparagus in a crispy hash with potatoes and onions alongside some pan-fried cod fillets. Of course, a creamy horseradish sauce was the perfect accompaniment. The recipe produces a mild flavored sauce, but if you like a spicier bite, you could add more.

Pan-fried Cod with Asparagus Hash and Horseradish Sauce

(adapted from Real Simple)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons horseradish

juice of half a lemon

2-3 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 bunch asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces

4 (6-ounce) skinless cod fillets

Whisk together the mayonnaise, horseradish and lemon juice until creamy and smooth. Set aside.

Cook the potatoes in salted water until fork-tender. Drain.

While the potatoes are boiling, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add a little olive oil. When oil is shimmering, add the onion slices and cook, turning often, until softened. Remove from the pan and keep warm. If needed, add a little more oil to the pan. Arrange the drained potatoes in a single layer in the skillet; season with salt and pepper. When the potatoes have browned on one side, flip to crisp on all sides. To the crispy fried potatoes, add the asparagus and return the onions to the pan. Cook, stirring until the asparagus is brightened in color and tender-crisp. Remove hash from the pan, and keep warm.

Add a bit more oil to the pan. Pat the cod fillets dry and season with salt and pepper. Cook, in batches, until opaque throughout, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Serve pan-fried cod with the hash, fresh lemon wedges and the horseradish sauce. (Serves 4)

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and their three dogs ranch near Colome.

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Keep It Simple

By Fran Hill

My garden is finally planted and growing well. Porches and patio have been outfitted with Adirondack chairs and tables and adorned with pots of vibrant blooming flowers. The new grass we seeded early this spring is lush and green. I have a stock of firewood for the fire pit. It is time to host a patio party.

Entertaining in the summer doesn’t have to be elaborate. The season, by its nature, is all about casual. Invite a few friends over. Chill a bottle of wine, pick up a 6-pack, brew a pitcher of sun tea or stir up some lemonade. Snacks can be as simple as popcorn dusted with parmesan cheese, chips and salsa, pretzels and peanuts, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip or some fresh fruit. Nobody is giving bonus points for knocking yourself out. Keep it simple and just have fun.

Smoked Salmon Pizza is a super simple appetizer that is a perfect cool addition for a summer party. Created from purchased ingredients with just a little slicing and spreading, it leaves plenty of time for summer fun at your patio party.

Smoked Salmon Pizza

purchased flatbread, naan, or pita bread

whipped cream cheese

smoked salmon, thinly sliced

cucumbers, thinly sliced

red onion, thinly sliced

capers, drained

freshly ground black pepper

fresh dill, snipped

lemon wedges, optional

Preheat oven to 425F. Heat flatbread, naan or pita directly on oven racks for 5-8 minutes to slightly crisp. Allow to cool.

Spread flatbread with cream cheese. (I like a thin layer, but spread it thickly if that’s your thing.)

Carefully separate the salmon into layers and arrange on top of the cream cheese. Top with cucumbers and red onions. Sprinkle capers over all. Add a crack of fresh pepper. Snip fresh dill over all.

Cut into small wedges and serve. Offer lemon wedges to squeeze over individual portions. (I love it; Hubs does not.)

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and their two dogs ranch near Colome.

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Goin’ Fishin’

By Fran Hill

At the farm, the guys rely heavily on working dogs to help with the sheep. From sorting for sheering, weighing or vaccinating to moving the lambs away from the feed bunks so the tractor and feed wagon can make their way for daily feedings, the herding instincts of our border collies are essential. However, with one of our loyal and hardworking pups no longer much of a pup, Hubs has felt the need to look around for a new generation of canine coworkers.

His search ended late last December when a cousin’s Australian shepherd had a litter of beautiful puppies. Immediately Hubs claimed a female, and in March Nilla came to live with us — in town. There were many sound reasons why we brought this puppy into our dachshund-ruled home flanked by city streets instead of immediately making her nest among the sheep at the farm. I won’t deny that a large factor might have been how my heartstrings were tugged as she slept in my lap during the 5 1/2-hour drive home from picking her up.

It has been an interesting few months as Nilla navigated the puppy door to the fenced backyard, mastered housebreaking, chewed a dining room chair, learned to sit for jelly beans, trampled my herb garden and the rhubarb (but hasn’t chased away the snakes), made some day trips to the farm to begin the transition to her working future, snuggled, wrestled and snoozed with our dachshunds, and dug holes in the backyard every time it rained. Every time it rained. And, if you weren’t aware, it has been a fairly wet spring and early summer.

Our smart, curious and friendly puppy doesn’t seem to have any interest in the dirt when it is dry, but a quick downpour and suddenly she is excavating a path to China. I blame the earthworms. Our soil is rich with night crawlers that become super active in the rain. If Nilla finds one squirming across our damp concrete patio after a rain shower, she dances with excitement. Maybe she just wants to go fishing.

I haven’t been fishing in a while, but Nilla has got me thinking about it. There is something about freshly caught walleye from the Missouri River that just can’t be beat. Maybe I shouldn’t be scolding Nilla for digging holes to find worms. Maybe I should be rewarding her with a taste of freshly pan-seared fish with a light lemon and butter sauce. Manicured lawn be damned; let’s go fishing.

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and their two dogs ranch near Colome.

Lemon Butter Fish

(adapted from Cooking Light)

4 fish fillets (about 3/4 inch thick) — cod (which is what I had on hand), halibut, walleye or whatever

black pepper

kosher salt

1 teaspoon flour

2 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

Pat fish dry and season both sides with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with flour.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet. Add fish to the pan and cook until lightly browned. Carefully turn fish over; cook another 4-5 minutes (until fish flakes easily). Remove from pan and set aside to keep warm.

Add remaining tablespoon butter to pan and cook until lightly browned, swirling pan to melt butter evenly and prevent burning. Remove pan from heat, stir in lemon juice.

Drizzle sauce over fish. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately. (Serves 4)

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Our Butterfly House

By Christian Begeman

The February blahs. You know what I’m talking about. The weather is brutal at the worst and a tease at best … sometimes hinting at spring then turning icy and gray all over again. The air is irritatingly dry. When the sun does shine, everybody looks like they are imitating Clint Eastwood’s famous squint due to the glare from the ice and snow. February in South Dakota is the time of year where winter really starts wearing on a person. A lot of folks get so antsy for warmer weather they hop a plane and head south in search of beaches and sunshine. I can’t say I blame them.

Recently I found a place right here in Sioux Falls that helped cure my February blahs. Not that it needed finding. The Sertoma Butterfly House has been here for quite some time. It’s just that I had never visited before. Shame on me. The temperature is always 80 degrees and the humidity is kept at a tropical level. The flight room is like a giant greenhouse so when the sun shines you can really feel it warm your bones. The butterflies do too. They are most active when the sun shines and they often flitter about just inches from you as you walk the paths among the flowers and foliage.

For a photographer the place is a great chance to test out a macro lens. The butterflies are somewhat used to human presence and if you are slow and patient, it isn’t that difficult to ease up on a colorful beauty while feeding to get some really interesting close-ups. It’s also a chance to learn. Most of the butterflies in the exhibit are not native to South Dakota, so you won’t see many of them in the wild … unless you plan on visiting the Central American tropics that is. I was able to see and shoot a Glasswing butterfly that has transparent wings. I didn’t even know such an animal existed.

If you don’t have a macro lens, that’s OK. The place is a wonderful destination for kids and thus great opportunities for kids’ photos. I invited my niece and nephew to come see the butterflies last week. They are ages two and three so their attention span presented a challenge, but nevertheless I was able to get some cute candid shots of them checking out the butterflies, fish and turtles.

Recently the Sertoma Butterfly House added a new attraction that is great for the kids as well as adults. The Purdy Marine Cove not only has an amazing display of coral exhibits (one aquarium looks like it was the inspiration for Pixar’s Finding Nemo) but also a new touch pool. If you ever wanted to know what a small shark, helmet crab, or stingray feels like, you won’t be disappointed. My nephew Bo wasn’t too sure he wanted to touch anything when he first laid eyes on the touch pool, but after he warmed up to it, it was tough pulling him away.

According to their brochure, the Sertoma Butterfly House is one of only 28 independent, year-round butterfly houses in the United States. When you stop and think about it, that’s pretty cool. I mean, who knew I just had to drive over to Sertoma Park in southern Sioux Falls to soak up some tropical weather and beat those February blahs?

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Our Office Lutefisk Party

By Ruth Steil

The brown-jacketed deliveryman brought a package to our office door and said,”I think it’s lutefisk. Do you want me to set it outside?” That’s when we knew we were in for an adventure.

Although our staff always enjoys exploring the culinary culture of South Dakota, back in 2006 we realized that many of us at South Dakota Magazine had never tried one of our state’s most infamous holiday dishes. That’s especially surprising because our most senior staffer, Alma Korslund, is an experienced lutefisk chef.

Lutefisk is air-dried codfish that has been rehydrated by a soaking in lye and water, hence the name, lute (lye), fisk (fish), or”lyefish.” Whether lutefisk originated in Norway or Sweden is apparently a fishbone of contention. With all the bad press, it’s a mystery why either country wants to claim it. According to an old Norwegian-American saying,”Half the Norwegians who immigrated to America came in order to escape the hated lutefisk, and the other half came to spread the gospel of lutefisk’s wonderfulness.”

Alma grew up in a Danish household (the Hansens) in the Irene/Viborg area. Her grandparents were Danish immigrants.”We’re Danes, not Norwegians, but we like lutefisk,” she says,”I guess we made it for the Norwegian in-laws.” She was eight when she first tried lutefisk. Her sister didn’t care for the taste, but Alma liked it immediately.”I think it had something to do with all the butter we used,” she admits today.

The Hansens enjoyed lutefisk every Thanksgiving. As the rest of the holiday feast was being set out, the lutefisk was finally put on the stove to boil. Melted butter and the fish were the last things brought to the table.

Lutefisk is traditionally served with mashed potatoes, green beans or creamed peas, lefse and butter — ≠lots of butter. Swedish meatballs were often added to the menu for the faint of stomach.

Although lutefisk can be made in the microwave or oven, Alma still cooks it on the stove, just the way her mother taught her. Here’s how the Hansens did it:

  • Cut large lutefisk filets into portion-sized pieces.
  • Soak in salt water for a few hours before cooking.
  • Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil.
  • Drop fish pieces into boiling water.
  • Wait for water to come back to a boil.
  • Poke with fork — fish will slide off easily when ready.

The fork test is important.”When it slides right off the fork, it has to come out of the water and to the table,” insists Alma. Overcooking lutefisk produces a quivering gelatinous mass, something akin to fish jello.

Lutefisker Alma Korslund in the kitchen.

The lutefisk that arrived via our deliveryman came from Olsen Fish Company of Minneapolis, the world’s largest processor of lutefisk. They produce over half a million pounds of the fragrant fish a year. Approximately 25 tons of that comes directly to South Dakota. Olsen’s even has a Lutefisk Hotline (800-882-0212) to call if you don’t understand the fork poke.

Lutefisk can be purchased fresh or frozen, with skin or without. We received it frozen skinless or kettle ready.”This is a very nice piece of fish,” Alma said,”Sometimes you have to remove the skin.”

When Alma prepared the lutefisk for our magazine staff, the meal was met with some trepidation; the fish doesn’t come without a reputation, after all. But everyone tried it.”They were all good sports,” Alma said. Comments from the diners ranged from, “How do you say ‘ugh’ in Norwegian?” to”Way better than I expected, it reminds me of artificial crabmeat.” Even our editor’s dog, Yeller, ate some. But, he also chews on whatever he finds in the backyard.

Alma concedes that lutefisk may be a dying tradition.”My children can do without it, but they will try it,” she says.”My grandchildren don’t like it at all.” So she often prepares it just for her husband, Dale, and herself — their own little Danish feast.

Editor’s Note: This story is revised from the November/December 2006 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order a copy or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.