Lutefisk dinner keeps a 38-year tradition alive

Some of the 225 or so diners who bought tickets to the Nov. 1 lutefisk dinner at North Waseca Lutheran Church have been coming for decades. Not only that, but they travel a large region of Minnesota to find the lutefisk dinners which still exist.

 

Jerry Schaefer of Madison Lake first learned about the dinner from church member and lutefisk cook Greg Thomson more than 20 years ago, and has been coming ever since. For the past decade or so, he’s brought along Mankato residents Steven Vatndal and Anita Baerg-Vatndal. Anita made a point of bringing some lingonberry preserves–the traditional and tasty spreading for lefse.

 

“This dinner is special to us,” said church member and event organizing committee member Roy Srp. “It’s a way we connect with the community, and part of our heritage.” The dinner has been served for about 38 years. Srp greets diners as they arrive and has them take a seat in the main part of the church while preparations downstairs proceed.

 

This year he composed lyrics to go with the tune of the John Denver song “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” The song invited, “Eat all you want, we do this just for you.”

 

The Kyle and Amanda Johnson family from New Richland are also among the lutefisk aficionados willing to travel to find the famous dish. Family matron Amanda makes lutefisk for special family celebrations, including Christmas Eve.

 

Youngest family member Aurella, 8, declared the lutefisk was the best-tasting food on the table, even though a plate of homemade cookies and a small platter of lefse were among the options. Kyle revealed Aurella wasn’t even a year old when Amanda gave her a few spoonfuls at her first Christmas; on Sunday she quickly consumed three helpings.

 

The Johnson family has many stories related to the dish–one people seem either to love or to hate. In fact, the very first time Amanda met Kyle’s parents was at the North Waseca lutefisk dinner. Amanda has never been one to eat any kind of fish; not knowing that, Kyle’s father Odean dished some lutefisk onto her plate.

 

Even a small taste of the famously aromatic fish had her ready to gag; she reached for what seemed to be a glass of water and discovered it was juice that had been poured off the fish platter.

 

When Kyle’s sister Rochelle brought her fiancee Chris to a family celebration, Kyle says Odean piled his plate high with lutefisk and told him he was expected to eat it. The incident was more successful than that with Amanda: “He really loves it now,” Kyle says of Chris.