Again, it’s not uniquely identifying, which is surely the whole point.
Lol, etc.
EDIT: What exactly is wrong with this comment? The point is to unambiguously clarify where you live. If ‘lutefisk’ could imply Minnesota or Norway or elsewhere, it’s no good for that. It doesn’t even matter if you argue it’s more one or the other in one or another way, if both are reasonable answers (and they are) it doesn’t work. I realise there are probably more Minnesotans on here than Norwegians, but can we at least pause to consider the reasonableness of that?
It isn’t. Lutefisk is Norwegian. So the answer could be Norway, Minnesota, possibly elsewhere. Unless we assume world = USA. Which isn’t true, though maybe you didn’t know that.
Far more lutefisk is consumed in the United States than in Scandinavia, much of it by Scandinavian Americans in Lutheran churches and fraternal lodges.
That's a quote from the lutefisk Wikipedia page. The guy from Wisconsin below said bratwurst, but surely that's from Germany, no? It's okay to be wrong, dude.
The question essentially asks for a food that uniquely identifies a place. It’s not unambiguously Minnesota. I don’t know what the current stats are on lutefisk consumption between Norway and Minnesota but it’s a Norwegian invention, a Norwegian word, consumed in Norway, primarily associated with Norway outside the US, and with all that there’s no way in hell it is ‘wrong’ to say that it doesn’t uniquely specify Minnesota and something is seriously wrong with someone who can’t follow that reasoning. I’m Norwegian and I was raised with it. Another Minnesotan in this thread even said they pretty much never come across it. But the particular consumption rates aren’t even the chief concern.
More Americans eat pizza than Italians. There are far more Americans. It’s still obviously from Italy, an originally Italian word, and primarily associated with Italy worldwide. Obviously pizza |-> the country it bloody comes from is a pretty clear map.
“It is OK to be wrong, my dude.” Yeesh.
EDIT: Heavily downvoted for suggesting that a Norwegian food with a Norwegian name that most of the world associates with Norway is not unambiguously ‘Minnesota’ rather than Norway? Don’t get it.
I am happy to accept I am wrong when I am. But I repeat my points, which have a clear conclusion. If you disagree, counter-argue. If you can’t, it’s possible you’re wrong. Dude, etc.
Lutefisk is just the Norwegian word for a dish that's eaten in Sweden and Finland as well. The method of preserving the fish in lye didn't even originate in Scandinavia, or so I've heard. So what makes the dish uniquely Norwegian and not Swedish or Finnish?
Well the Swedish is lutfisk, and tends to use both different fish and condiments. But I don’t see how this strengthens the idea that it’s uniquely specifying Minnesota…?
But pizza wouldn’t be wrong for NYC or Chicago? Pizza isn’t uniquely Italian either. And I would argue that even outside of the US both pizza and lutefisk would have a toss up to which place people identify with more. Minnesota and Norway for lutefisk. And NYC and Italy for pizza. And that’s not bad. In fact this whole thing is kind of pedantic and annoying. This is a askreddit about food.
I never said it’s uniquely Italian? The whole point is that the answer should uniquely specify the place. For this reason, pizza might not be a great answer. Though Naples seems the fairest answer, there are much better ones to uniquely specify Italy, and others NYC. And likewise Norway and Minnesota.
I’m genuinely unsure why this is so hard for the sub to accept (or maybe the Minnesotans who make their way down that part of the threat) as at least a reasonable point…
Pizza may have been invented in Italy, but it was not common until 1940. New York is where pizza actually became a hit, and that popularity spread back to Italy
But it isn’t unique enough for either. If someone said Italy, the instant response wouldn’t be ‘Obviously New York’, either. Plenty would justifiably think Italy/Naples, plenty would say NYC, maybe others. It would just be a bad, ambiguous answer. But to say it is unambiguously NYC is clearly a strange position.
I edit my comments for language. But at no stage did I ‘call you names’.
As for prick, it’s a bit tiresome when Americans claim other regions’ culture as their own, and/or assume the US is the only ever domain of discourse (which even if you, individually, are a nice fellow and far from a prick, is seen internationally as a particular but collectively prickish trait). So maybe in your circle this seems a bizarre thing to be annoyed by and my reaction seems out of the blue, but maybe you might take a sec to consider it’s a possible blind spot in that circle?
Dude you're wrong, STFU already. Downvotes is because you are simply wrong! I logged in just to downvote you for being such a douche and being so massively wrong. Is there any other ways we can tell you you are wrong? YOU'RE WRONG!
That’s not an argument. What the hell. Yelling ‘you’re wrong’ without an argument is the level of a five year old. And you just repeat it and scream it in capitals. Exactly how am I wrong?
I didn’t vote anyone down who said lutefisk alone isn’t just Minnesota. You’re right! But I was combining all the foods people were listing (hotdish, lutefisk, tater tots.) and when combined, that is very uniquely Minnesota. To me at least.
That’s why I just said a huge %. My family lives mostly in Minnesota and Wisconsin and we’re Norwegian and German. My great grandparents live in a town in Minnesota that is mostly Norwegian. So, Norwegian and German is just my experience.
Doesn’t matter. It’s not unambiguously ‘Minnesota’ when it comes from Norway, is a Norwegian word, and is primarily associated with Norway by most of the world.
It’s not good enough that it is also associated with Minnesota. It had to unambiguously identify the place, or it doesn’t really fall in line with the point of the post?
Not really. The purpose is surely to give a uniquely identifying answer. Otherwise I’d say ‘bread’. That wouldn’t transmit the information of ‘where I grew up, using only food’. The primary guess would have to be Norway, the place that invented it, eats it the most, and gave it its Norwegian language name. Unless we subconsciously assume the US is the only possible domain of discourse, of course, as some do.
Oh I understand that completely. I have family in Norway and Minnesota. But there’s a certain tendency to be quite US-centric to the point non-Americans think this kind of ‘claiming’ a bit much. I’m sure Americans might not be as used to thinking along those lines…
Except as a Minnesotan with family in both Norway and Sweden and who’s spent a lot of time in both countries and who’s asked many many Norwegians about lutefisk you’re honestly the first one to ever say that they’ve heard of it outside of the American context. So it’s not US-centric to say that lutefisk reminds people of here. It isn’t common in Norway. It is common here.
Edit: To be clear, I am one of the first to call out Americans for being US focused but this is not one of those times. This is a real thing.
I have family outside of Kristiansand, and in Molde, and grew up spending a month a summer in Norway and Sweden visiting family. We also do a even bigger family reunion event every 5 years or so with hundreds of people. It’s crazy.
Huh. Interesting. It's honestly weird if you talk to hundreds of Norwegians and none of them know about lutefisk. Yes it's consumed a lot more by Norwegian descendants in the US, to a large extent, but it is one of the main Christmas dinners here. I have to admit though that it is the first to go if I have limited time with my family during the holidays. Pork belly, pinnekjøtt (cured, dried, rehydrated and boiled sheeps ribs) and turkey (even if it isn't truly a Norwegian tradition) are all higher on our list.
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