Lutefisk

Lutefisk starts as stockfish, cod dried on racks until it is hard as wood, which is then soaked in water for days and then in a lye solution, which breaks down the proteins and turns the flesh into a translucent jelly; it is soaked again in fresh water to remove the lye before cooking. The result is baked and served with bacon fat, mushy peas, potatoes and mustard, usually with aquavit and beer, and it belongs firmly to the weeks before Christmas, when restaurants across the country put on lutefisk evenings for office parties and groups. Norwegians argue about it more than any other dish; a substantial minority consider it inedible, and its defenders treat it as a matter of national loyalty.

What you actually see

• The jellied texture - translucent flesh, quite unlike ordinary fish.
• The accompaniments - bacon fat, mushy peas, potato and mustard.
• The December restaurant evenings - group dinners through the pre-Christmas weeks.
• The lye process - the treatment that turns hard stockfish to jelly.

When to go

November and December, when it appears on menus across the country; outside those weeks it is rarely served in restaurants although supermarkets stock it. Booking is needed for December lutefisk evenings.

Honest expectations

The texture is the obstacle for most first-time eaters more than the flavour, which is mild. The smell during cooking is strong. Portions are large and heavily accompanied by fat, and the accompanying aquavit is part of the tradition rather than optional in most settings.

Nearby

Restaurants in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim run lutefisk seasons; Trondelag and Lofoten supply much of the stockfish.