Swedish Meatballs and Preserved Fish from the Viking Age— Cooking in America
- The first wave of immigration into
Seattle was the Swedishand Norwegian community.
And a lot has changedfrom the 1800's to now.
But one place that keepsthe Swedish community
alive is the Swedish Club.
So we're going to the Swedish Club.
We're gonna be tastingsome Swedish meatballs,
and most importantly, a rare dish called
lutfisk that came from the Vikings.
- Hello Sheldon,
I'm Kristine Leander.- Hi Kristine.
So tell me about the Swedish Club.
- We are a 125 year oldorganization here in Seattle,
that started with immigrants.
We celebrate Nordiccustoms and celebrations
and holidays here at the Swedish Club.
- Okay, I'm excited to roll my sleeves up
and make some meatballs.
(lively music)
We coming in swaggy with the shoes today.
Man, I need to get some like that, though.
(water spraying)
- Good job.
You're hired, man.
- Okay, all set.
- What we're doing here today is just
typical very Swedish food.
- And this is lutfisk?
- Lutfisk, which means, lye-fish.
- So lutfisk is preserved with lye,
which is like an alkaline.
It's like for wear-washing and stuff.
- Yes, absolutely.
- And this is just cod?
- Yes, it can be cod orany other white fish.
- Oh, okay.
- In my province, where Icome, we do it this way.
It's just air-dried, very thin,
like a piece of board and with lye.
On the ninth of December,you start soaking it
in cold water, and youadd a little lye to it.
Now the fish is really swelledup beautifully like this,
and change it every dayuntil Christmas eve.
And that's typically whenthe Swedes eat their lutfisk.
- That's a long process.
- It's a long process.
- On the night, you'd better be on it.
- That's right.
(laughing)
Okay Sheldon, we're gonnaground some mustard here.
- And this is gonna be forthe sauce for the lutfisk?
- For the lutfisk, yes.
It's a real cannon ball,
you can feel how heavy that is, right?
It's like--
- Oh my goodness.
- You can--
- Whoa!
- You kinda get it going and you go down
and pick up more mustard andget it up there on the side.
(laughing)
- Alright.
My rhythm is not as good as yours.
It's all in the hips.
(laughing)
There you go.
You get the glutes working,and you get mustard seeds.
Oh no, no, no.
- When I brought this over from Sweden,
and I was caught in Customs,they say "What is that"?
- You said "All I wannado is make my mustard".
What's the differentinfluences of Swedish cuisine?
- A lot of seafood, a lot offish, basically ate a lot of
husmanskost, house man's food.
- Okay.
- Meatloaves, meatballs.
- And whose recipe is this?
- It's my own.
- Some Swedish meatballs.
- Meatballs.
Half pork and half beef.
Onions.
White pepper and salt.
Eggs.
Bread crumbs.
- It's not Swedish unless there's a
little bit of cream.- Little bit of cream.
- I like that.
(lively music)
- We have a large Nordic community here,
and we have an area named Ballard.
A lot of Skandihoovianssettled there back in the days.
- You grew up in Sweden?
- I did.
- Yeah.
- I was 22 when I came here,
then had my daughter andwe would come down here
and celebrate the Lucia.
It's a very big day in Sweden and
they have that celebrationhere every year.
(lively music)
(lively music)
(lively music)
- Are there any otherSwedish clubs around?
- We're the only one in America.
- Huh.
- We're the only one thathas a club like this,
that's just dedicated to socializing.
This club was started by men,and they were immigrants.
Started a club to be with each other.
Sing songs and eat food,and smoke cigarettes,
(laughing)
and play cards, and do what men do.
At the time of the Seattle World's Fair,
it's 1960, we moved to this building.
Not until 1989 did we admit women,
so it's relatively recent.
And now it's a community place.
People tell us that it's the anchor
of the Scandinavian-American community.
- Alright.
- So this is Aquavit, and lookat the person, and say ‘Skol’.
- Skol.
I'm gonna get a bite, alittle bit of the gravy.
I love the addition of the lingonberry.
Brightens up the palate.
Probably can eat like 50 of those.
(laughing)
- Yes.
- This was cod that was preserved in lye.
You'd think of somethingthat's preserved for that long,
would have a real fermented taste or smell
coming off of it, but... it's very mild.
The key, I think, is that mustard sauce,
which I had a blast doing, because,
I think I took a fewinches off of my hips.
(laughs)
They were one of the firstimmigrants to come here.
- Swedes and Norwegians--
- Okay.
- Were among the first.
As this area was beingbuilt, those same skills
that people used inScandinavia, were very useful.
They needed the farmers to grow the food,
they needed the fishermento catch the fish,
they needed the carpenters,they needed the loggers,
and so we have a huge populationof Scandinavian people.
They are more dilute than they use to be,
and they have become Americans.
We also have a new wave ofSwedes and Scandinavians,
and they have come towork in the software.
- Okay.
How big of a change have you seen
in this city in this past few years?
- The change in the city is huge.
People can't afford to livewhere they used to live anymore.
- Would you consider theSwedish Club your home?
- Oh, absolutely, it's home.
- It's places like this in cities that
people can find a senseof belonging, I guess.
Swedes and Norwegians were some of the first immigrants to settle in Seattle, and although Seattle has changed a lot since then, it still has a close-knit Swedish community. One of the places that the community congregates is The Swedish Club. Join host Sheldon Simeon for a trip into the kitchens of the historic club where he learns to make authentic Swedish meatballs, lutefisk, and a few other favorites. Eater is the one-stop-shop for food and restaurant obsessives across the country. With features, explainers, animations, recipes, and more — it’s the most indulgent food content around. So get hungry. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel now! http://goo.gl/hGwtF0 Our Video Crew: https://www.eater.com/pages/masthead-video