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Adventurous Minnesotans Seek Lutefisk Come Yuletide

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The holidays are full of traditions, and for many Minnesota families, that means serving up lutefisk.

The Olsen Fish Company has been providing traditional Scandinavian foods for well over 100 years.

Norwegian immigrants in Minneapolis began importing herring and lutefisk then processed it themselves.

The same process is used to this day. This is still a common practice in Norway and even parts of Africa.

"Basically take the head off, cut the guts and tie the tail up. And in northern Norway they can hang them and let them naturally dry," Olsen's president Chris Dorff said. "Mother Nature would dry them in six months, and preserve it, as long as it's dry."

The Olsen Fish Company produces 300,000 to 400,000 pounds of lutefisk a year.

You can buy it at grocery stores and specialty stores across the country.

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