Audio The lure of lutefisk (story audio) Photos Ellie and Wendell Holmgren of Edina Chris Dorff, president of Olsen Fish Co. in north Minneapolis Dried cod are shipped from Norway to be processed into lutefisk View full slideshow (11 images) Resources Olsen Fish Co. The UNofficial Lutefisk Web site Sons of Norway Respond to this story Talk about this story in the MPR News Forum Submit a commentary Help us cover this story

The lure of lutefisk
by Cathy Wurzer, Minnesota Public Radio
December 6, 2002

Ellie and Wendell Holmgren of Edina are regulars on the lutefisk dinner circuit. They attend at least six each season. (MPR Photo/Cathy Wurzer)

Minneapolis, Minn. — The annual lutefisk supper at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis usually draws several thousand people. The Friday event is traditionally the biggest event on the Minnesota lutefisk calendar.

Believe it or not, there are roving bands of lutefisk lovers who make the rounds of church suppers, in search of the perfectly prepared Scandanavian dish.

One Twin Cities couple are regulars on the lutefisk dinner circuit. Ellie and Wendell Holmgren of Edina usually make it to about six lutefisk suppers a year, though their record is 12. They talked to Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer about their love of lutefisk.

Wurzer also visited the Olsen Fish Co. in Minneapolis, which is the largest processor of lutefisk in the world.

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