Matt Yglesias

Sep 30th, 2009 at 4:44 pm

Lutefisk

250px-Lutefisk

Karl Rove is being inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame:

Former White House political adviser Karl Rove says he has an appreciation for all things Norse.

Except lutefisk.

Rove says any food that has lye in it “takes an acquired taste.” Rove is to be inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame in Minot on Wednesday, despite criticism from state Democrats.

Fair enough on the lutefisk but it can’t be worse than hakárl. The real question is what other Nordic things are we supposed to believe Rove does like. Is he a big Jens Lekman fan? He enjoys high taxes and generous social welfare provision?






28 Responses to “Lutefisk”

  1. scythia Says:

    The real question is what other Nordic things are we supposed to believe Rove does like. Is he a big Jens Lekman fan? He enjoys high taxes and generous social welfare provision?

    LOL.

    It’s the Vikings, bro. The raping and pillaging are what appeals to the Rovester.

  2. Jeffrey Davis Says:

    Isn’t Peking Duck cured w/ lye?

  3. right Says:

    He’s a big Adrian Peterson fan.

  4. cmholm Says:

    He’s a Swede? Oh sweet Jesus, I didn’t think I had anything in common with that asshole, other than American citizenship.

  5. The Lorax Says:

    Don’t forget bulging cans of fermented herring which, due to the odor, usually are opened outside.

  6. joejoejoe Says:

    It’s always nice to honor a man who made his living telling lies to voters about his opponents about harmless things like, uh, pedophilia, in order to gain raw power. Fine judgement there Scandinavian-Irrelevant Museum.

  7. nitangae Says:

    Hakarl isn’t really that bad. I simply don’t understand the excitement. A slight smell of urine at the very beginning, and then otherwise a somewhat funny texture and a strong fish taste. It was a serious anticlimax eating Hakarl – everyone was insisting that I would vomit as soon as I ate it, and couldn’t even consider it without alcohol – and really, I bought some fresh hakarl at the Saturday market, ate it an hour later at my bed-and-breakfast, and so I really don’t know what the fuss is.

    I think guidebooks need to create one disgusting food per country. Bores me to tears.

  8. ben Says:

    When he says “everything Norse” he probably just means vikings, blonds and lefsa.

  9. rapier Says:

    As a Swedish American I object strongly. Not only for the usual reasons but for a story he let out a few years ago which shows he does not hold Scandinavian solidarity himself.

    The story which I have no link for said that Rove, who is of Norwegian decent, sort of, through his adoptive father, held a grudge against Swedes and Sweden. Way off in the weeds is the fact that Norway was in fact not a totally independent nation until 1905. Formerly it had been attached to Sweden. Rove by his own words resented this fact and expressed antipathy for Sweden because of it.

    Now knowing Rove this silly tale probably had little basis in fact in his own mind but must have been told for the tiny purpose of fermenting Sweden hate, a famous conservative fetish.

  10. taskerbliss Says:

    I bet Rove likes Norse Mythology. He must think of himself as the latter day manifestation of Loki the Trickster, and I bet he liked Thor’s Hammer even before Tom De Lay picked it up in service of the poor, oppressed, upper-class white minority. The only society who should give this guy an award is Jackassica.

  11. bob h Says:

    Why not Grover Norquist while they are at it? I am of Norwegian heritage, and my older relations tell me Rove is an example of what the Norwegians call a “squarehead”.

  12. bartkid Says:

    >an appreciation for all things Norse.
    >Except lutefisk.

    Probably mispoke.
    I betcha he meant, not Norse, but Aryan.

  13. Christopher Says:

    Formerly it had been attached to Sweden.

    It was attached to the Swedish monarch in a personal union. Sweden thus controlled Norwegian foreign policy, but otherwise Norway was a separate country.

  14. Greg Says:

    Lutefisk is up there with Gefilte fish and some of the things I’ve seen the Japanese eat for breakfast on the list of things you’d have to put a gun to my head to get me to eat.

  15. rapier Says:

    Aren’t all Norwegians square heads? Well Swedes too and a good portion of Germans, not to put too fine a point on it.

    My Swedish cousins sometimes let slip a bit of anti Dane and anti German prejudice but I’ve never heard any anti Norwegian sentiment. A former Dane, now American citizen, I once worked with used to complain about the drunken Swedes who would fall into Copenhagen harbor waiting for the ferry.

  16. kieran hervold Says:

    After all the stories, lutefisk was a disappointment: gelatinous and flavorless except for a slight fishy smell. I hear it should be prepared with a rich sauce, but on its own, it’s not so much gross as BLAND. Much like every other Norwegian dish I’ve had (excepting desserts).

  17. navamske Says:

    I bet Rove likes Norse Mythology. He must think of himself as the latter day manifestation of Loki the Trickster, and I bet he liked Thor’s Hammer even before Tom De Lay picked it up in service of the poor, oppressed, upper-class white minority.

    Thorazine: fan mag of the Norse gods.

  18. Heraldblog Says:

    Rove needs to be indicted, not inducted.

  19. lys Says:

    Maybe it should be Querkopf like wrong headed?

  20. Jason B. Says:

    Bah. My family has lutefisk at every Christmas. It smells like boiled hell, but it has almost no flavor. Basically, every Scandinavian food is a carrier for salt, sugar, or butter.

    Mmmmmm, lefse . . .

  21. Vityahya Says:

    На вигляд нормально. Їсти можна…

  22. pain perdu Says:

    Rove says any food that has lye in it “takes an acquired taste.”

    Spoken with the characteristic Rovian mix of certitude, factual inaccuracy, and appeal to lazy prejudice.

    I defy Mr. Rove to show me the person who doesn’t love Laugenbrötchen at first bite.

  23. Midland Says:

    I was beginning to feel sympathy for the Swedes complaining about Matt making fun of their army, and now this smarmy little sociopath gets an award.

    Really, we have to start putting conservative criminals in jail. There isn’t half the country that with the basic moral standards of a slave trading crack-whore pedophile card cheat.

  24. Peter Says:

    I’ve always wanted to try lukefisk.

    Though I’ll draw the line at casu marzu.

  25. Rich in PA Says:

    Karl Rove should love any food that has lie in it.

  26. Ryan Says:

    The real question is what other Nordic things are we supposed to believe Rove does like.

    I hear he has the complete hits of A-Ha on his iPod.

  27. Kropotkin Says:

    If youre going to Norway on your tour of europe Matt, try lefsa (kinda like a potato flour tortilla) and klumpf (sausage dumplings). Native Norwiegians like to eat lefsa bare from what I hear. But we Norwiegian-Americans like it with butter or surgar sprinkled on it, try it that way though it is good bare. Not sure if they have either of those foods in Sweden though.

    Hating lukefisk is about the only thing I could probably agree on, that stuff is terrible.

  28. Leslie Says:

    Wonder if he is a cousin of Kvisling?


Jump to Top

About Wonk Room | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy (off-site) | RSS | Donate
© 2005-2008 Center for American Progress Action Fund
imageRegisterimageimageRSSimageimageimage image
image
Advertisement

Visit Our Affiliated Sites

image image
image 

Books By Matthew Yglesias
Book Cover

Heads in the Sand

Buy the book


imageTopic Cloud


Featured

image
Subscribe to the Progress Report




Contact Matthew Yglesias
Use this form to contact blog author Matthew Yglesias.

Name:
Email:
Tip:
(required)


imageArchives


imageBlog Roll


imageAbout Matt YglesiasimageimageContact MeimageimageDonateimage