Getting Our Lutefisk Fix

 Minneapolis, MN

Donna sporting the T-Shirt we bought to commemorate the occasion

What is Lutefisk

The reason we travel is to experience new things.  Now that we are settled in Minnesota, we want to experience Minnesota things.  We experienced a southern church Friday Fish Fry in Memphis and so we are doing the northern version of that today.  Lutefisk is traditionally served around Christmas time.  It makes sense because Lutefisk was created to preserve fish over the harsh winters.  Lutefisk is dried fish and during the rehydration process, lye is used.  Preparation involves multiple soakings and careful cooking so that the fish doesn't turn out like jelly.  We learned a properly cooked fish is firm.

Donna had mentioned that she was going to a Lutefisk, she pronounced it lute fisk, at pinball and she was corrected by a local saying it was pronounced lute a fisk.  When we arrived at the dinner we heard people saying lute a fisk so I assumed we had been pronouncing it wrong.  Now that I research it, Norwegians pronounce it Luta a fisk and Swedes pronounce it lute fisk.  Donna's family is Swedish so it all makes sense now.

Church Basement Lutefisk Dinner

We bought our tickets for the dinner online about a month in advance.  The dinner was on a Friday from 3pm to 7pm.  We decided to go at around 3:30, after the initial rush but before most people were off of work.  We arrived to a giant full parking lot with 5 people helping direct traffic and park cars.  It was a much larger operation than we were expecting.  

We found our way to the church basement and waited in line.  They ran a smooth operation.  While waiting, we learned that they would be serving some 1800 meals today.  They mentioned how many pounds of each of the food they would be preparing but I wasn't able to get all of the numbers down.  

They processed prepaid attendees as well as attendees paying on arrival quickly.

The tables were decorated and table settings were replaced quickly as meals were finished so that the next round of people could sit.

We ended up arriving at the perfect time.  The long line at opening was almost done.  We didn't have to wait outside like others and we beat the rush of people coming later in the day.

The buffet was self service.

You could take as much or as little lutefisk as you liked.  There were also Swedish Meatballs.

My plate from the top clockwise, Lefse (basically a tortilla made of potato), Potatoes with 3 slices of pickled beats on tope because I ran out of room, Mashed Rutabaga with brown sugar, Swedish Meatballs with a white roll on top, and the Lutefisk with white sauce.

Donna got the same things except she got butter sauce with her lutefisk.  WE wanted to try both.

On the way out Donna picked up a t-shirt for $20.

After the meal they encouraged people to leave and get cookies in the gym to free up seats.  

The meringue was very messy.

Donna had the great idea to eat it over our coffee.

During dessert we sat with some locals and talked to them about travel and theater and stuff like that.  Donna told them this was our first time eating lutefisk and they were surprised.  They wanted to know how we like it.  Donna talked about how she thought it was going to be like gelatin but that it wasn't, it was firm.  They said poorly cooked lutefisk turns to jelly.  We walked about how people liked to hate on lutefisk and many that do probably haven't tried it.  When they asked me what I thought, I compared it to lobster.  It was the same texture and almost the same flavor.  The man we were talking to lit up and said something like, that's what I tell all my friends that make fun of me for eating it!  He seemed very happy that someone else in the world compared it to lobster.  We decided that we liked it but we probably wouldn't prepare it ourselves.  The preparation creates a strong smell, kind of like microwaving fish, and in an apartment it would be overpowering. 

It was a really fun experience and we will do it again next year if we are still here.  

That's it for today but keep checking back.  We have quite a few fun unique experiences planned.  If you missed, A European Christmas Market in St. Paul, check it out. We froze our butts off for some festival food.

Finally a Jucy Lucy

 Minneapolis, MN

A Minneapolis Staple

I know some of you have been screaming at your computer yelling, "When will you finally try a Jucy or Juicy Lucy?!"  Okay settle down, today we headed over to Matt's Bar to try a Jucy Lucy (yes it has its own Wikipedia link).  Two places in Minneapolis claim to have invented the cheese filled cheeseburger, Matt's Bar with The Jucy Lucy and The 5-8 Club with The Juicy Lucy.  We chose to go to Matt's Bar for no specific reason.  We have read both burgers are about the same.  We chose today because my sister is in town to dog sit Francis for the week and she wanted to try one too.

We arrived just after noon and a line was starting to form, on a Thursday.  We arrived just before the real rush because the line was to the door when we left.  We were seated and got our order in quickly.  We all got the Jucy Lucy even though a regular cheeseburger probably would have been enough.  We had to try them and cutting them in half is frowned upon.

When the food arrived the fries were in a basket and the burgers came wrapped in paper with no plate.    We all kind of waited to bite into the burger because we knew the middle was filled with hot molten cheese.

The Jucy Lucy is the same price as a double cheeseburger

They sell merch but the merch there is less inspired than the merch online.

I also got a beer with my lunch.

The burger looked a bit sad.  The bun was dry and it just had pickles and grilled onions.

I put ketchup and mustard on mine after inspecting it.

I also squirted some ketchup on my burger wrapper for the fries.

I waited to bite into my burger but not long enough.  Quickly after my first bite I felt my thumb burning.  I waited to take my second bite but also, apparently not long enough.

The burger was good but it wasn't wasn't a top 10 burger for me.  We had discussed trying the other Juicy Lucy at 5-8 but after trying one, we decided against it.  It was worth it one time so if you are in the area check one out once.

The service was great and the staff was cranking out burgers fast enough to keep the customers moving through.

That's it for today.  If you missed, Pizza Farm #2, check it out.  We went to another Pizza Farm.

The Best Fair In The US - Part 1 The Food

 St. Paul, MN

The Minnesota State Fair

On Thursday we went to the opening day of the Minnesota State Fair.  We hear that the crowds are thick and parking is limited so we set our alarms and got up early.  We were on the road by 6:15 and arrived at the parking lot at around 6:30.  As we waited in line to park we watched the line to get through security get longer and longer.  The doors don't even open until 7am and there were already crowds of people there.  We were glad we got there early.

As we pulled up to the attendant giving directions, they directed us to a different parking lot.  We drove around the back of the fair and found our spot.  When we got out of the car we were directed to a different entrance with no one waiting in line.  We breezed through security and were let into the fair at 6:35am, way before many other people.  This was a really nice surprise. 

We were very happy to be able to enter the fair before most others.  We took the extra time to take some photos.

Nothing was open yet but we were in!  All this room for activities!

This photo was taken at 6:56am.  There was already a line at our chosen breakfast spot.

The Minnesota State Fair is all about the food for us.  We had picked out a few things that we wanted to eat, most of them being on a stick, and had a loose plan for day.  Our breakfast was at Hamline Church.  We wanted to split a Hamloaf Breakfast Sandwich.

Hamline opened right at 7am.  By the time we got our food the line was out the door and getting long.

This was why we were here.  The Holey Hamloaf Sandwich.  It doesn't look like much and it isn't on a stick but it was delicious!

"If you love our hamloaf, try our church" is a pretty great slogan.

The guys in front of us had their photo taken for the newspaper.  Donna checked this morning and they didn't make it in.

With our first stop done, we were feeling good about getting through the things we wanted to see.  In my mind, we were already ahead of schedule.  There was still more eating so we decided to walk around and explore.

We used this great app to help us navigate the giant fairground and all it has to offer. 

It was still early and the DFL booth wasn't open.  It was hopping later in the day.

We happened by another food item on our list pretty much right away.

Giant Egg Roll on a stick!  We were told it was going to be a 2 minute wait for them to come out of the fryer.

When they handed us the egg roll they said, "you get the first egg roll of this year's state fair".  I asked if I could get a t-shirt and he said, "come back next year and I will have one for you."

We both really liked the egg roll.  It was surprisingly good.  Donna had read about it in the paper.

I have only been to one other state fair so I am not the most experienced visitor, but my assumption with fairs is that most of the vendors and rides are provided by companies bringing in trailers and setting up for the time the fair is open and then packing up and heading to the next fair or festival.  This is the case with some of the vendors here, but there are also permanent stands on the fairgrounds that have the same vendors there year after year as well as built in rides that are only open during the fair.  Our main focus for food today was on these permanent vendors.  

Our next stop was The Food Building, a building with permanent vendors.  It was kind of like a food court but cooler.

There was an army of workers at The Mouth Trap and they had a huge area roped off for a queue that will fill up later.  We didn't get cheese curds but they seem very popular.

We got the lefse.  When in Minnesota right?

It was good but not as good as we would have wanted.  The lefse wasn't warm so it just kind of tasted like a tortilla.

So we went to the Herbaceous Butcher, a vegan butcher.  Sounds weird but they make some good stuff.

We got one of the most delicious sesame buns we have ever had.  It was filled with a vegan cheeseburger filling.  Now I want to go to their actual restaurant.  

Minnesota is known for its Nice, not its Spice, so "Oh God It's Hot" is probably a good slogan for this Caribbean place we didn't try.

We did some walking around and saw some stuff I will post about in Part 2, but soon we were hankering for more snacks. 

$1 Milk!

Donna got regular milk and I got Chocolate Milk.  It was delicious and such a deal.  You can't get much for a dollar anymore.  We could have paid $3 for all you can drink milk elsewhere but the jokes on them, 1 cup is all we can drink!

Our next food stop was in the Agriculture Building.  We went to see the crop art, content for a different post, but first we got Honey Ice Cream from Bee MN Nice and a flight of beer from the Brewers Guild.

They had 4 or 5 different 4 beer flights you could choose from.  This is the flight we chose.

They were all fine beers.  Nothing special, but good.

Our next stop was at Union Hmong Kitchen.  The Twin Cities area has a huge Hmong population and a Hmong celebrity chef.  Chef Vang has a few restaurants in the area and a great show called Relish on PBS.

The line was long but not near as long as it can get, we are told.

We got a Grilled Sticky Rice Stick with pickled mushrooms.  It was, in our opinion, the best thing we ate all day.

Our next food of the day was back in the Food Building.  We wanted to get some Minnesota Walleye.  Walleye is a very popular fish in Minnesota.

The fish was mixed with potatoes and maybe onion to make balls that tasted great.  

Our last food of the day was also at the Food Building.  I couldn't go to a state fair without getting the quintessential fair food, a corndog!  And I couldn't just get any corndog when in the part of the country, so I had to get a Corn Brat. 

"Shut up stomach!  You're getting more grease!"

The Corn Brat was fantastic and greasy.  I don't think my stomach could handle anymore grease today.  

Well that is a lot of fair so I will break this event into 2 or 3 posts.  Check back next time for a report on the fair rides and other stuff we did.  It was a great day and I am sure what they say is true, The Minnesota State Fair is the best fair in the US.

That's it for today.  If you missed, The Biggest Cave in Minnesota, check it out.