Lutefisk substitute

Substitutes for Lutefisk with ratios

1. 2Salt Cod (Bacalao), Soaked

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by weight after soaking

   The closest thing in spirit.

   What changes

   Salt cod and lutefisk begin at the same place, a dried cod flitch, and diverge only in how it is preserved and reconstituted, so salt cod gives you the same ritual of days of soaking and the same dense, dried-and-returned character. It tastes considerably more of fish and of the sea than lutefisk, and it stays firm and meaty rather than turning soft, so the plate reads as a proper piece of fish rather than a tradition. Soak it 24 to 48 hours in the refrigerator, changing the water three or four times, then poach it very gently.

   Best for

   cooks who want the dried-fish character, holiday plates with strong sauces, anyone who cannot find lutefisk but has a Portuguese, Italian or Latin grocery nearby

   Taste a scrap of the poaching water before you serve. If it is still salty, the fish needs more soaking. Undersoaked salt cod will overwhelm the butter and white sauce completely.

2. 3Mail-Ordered or Frozen Lutefisk

   Close match

   Use the same amount

   Before substituting, look harder.

   What changes

   Frozen and vacuum-packed lutefisk is sold seasonally by Scandinavian grocers and Midwestern fish houses, particularly through Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas, and it ships frozen in November and December. Some markets also sell dried cod already lye-treated but not yet freshened, which needs only a few days of cold-water soaking at home. This is the only route to the genuine texture, and it is usually easier than people assume.

   Best for

   families who want the actual tradition, church and lodge suppers, December holiday planning

   Order in early November. Supply is seasonal and small, and it sells out. Frozen lutefisk should be thawed in the refrigerator and cooked within a day or two, because it degrades fast.

3. 4Poached Haddock, Pollock or Halibut

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount by weight

   All three stand in for cod and each shifts the plate slightly.

   What changes

   Haddock and pollock are softer and sweeter and closer to lutefisk's mildness, which makes them the better mimics, though they also break apart more readily on the platter. Halibut is the opposite: firm, meaty and easy to serve in tidy pieces, but distinctly more substantial than lutefisk ever is, so the meal ends up feeling like a fish dinner rather than a lutefisk dinner. Choose by how much you care about lifting it out of the pot in one piece.

   Best for

   large platters that need to hold their shape, cooks who cannot get good fresh cod, buffet and potluck service

   Thicker fillets are more forgiving. Anything under three quarters of an inch will overcook while you are ladling sauce.

4. 5Skipping the Fish Course Entirely

   Taste and texture differ

   Worth saying plainly: at a great many Scandinavian-American holiday tables the lutefisk is the least eaten thing on it, and leaving it off costs the meal very little.

   What changes

   The trimmings are the meal. Serve the boiled potatoes, mashed rutabaga, mashed peas, lefse, meatballs, pickled beets and cured salmon, and put out the melted butter and mustard sauce anyway so the flavours of the tradition are still on the table. Nobody goes hungry and no one asks twice.

   Best for

   small households, guests who have never eaten lutefisk and are nervous, tables that already have plenty of other dishes

   If lutefisk matters to one person at the table, a single small portion can be ordered frozen and cooked separately in a parchment parcel while everyone else eats the cod.