from Wikipedia: "Traditionally, salt cod was dried only by the wind and the sun, hanging on wooden scaffolding or lying on clean cliffs or rocks near the seaside. The Norwegian term "klippfisk" simply means fish dried on the cliffs. Today, it and other dried fish such as stockfish are mainly dried indoors by electrical heating."

In the northern climes like Norway where salt was not plentiful, fish was dried rather than salted as a means to preserve it. Whereas in the southern climes around the Mediterranean, where salt was plentiful, fish was preserved by salting. So I don't understand the term "salt cod" for fish that is dried rather than salted.

My father grew up in a Norwegian community in western Wisconsin where his father owned a general store. My father told of cutting up the dried cod like cord wood, with a saw. He then said they would stack it up outside the store where a dog would come by and flavor it. Then they would soak it in lye to soften it up, otherwise it would be as tough as shoe leather. After that they would soak it in water many times to get rid of the lye. Then you would steam it and serve it with either a white sauce or melted butter (you can get into an argument about which is the proper way of serving it).

My take on lutefisk is that at best it has no taste, and at worst it does have a taste. A t-shirt for sale in a store in Ballard (a Scandinavian neighborhood of Seattle) said "Lutefisk - Just Say NO!"). When I lived in Minnesota, church lutefisk suppers were quite popular around Christmas time. I just said NO!

S. in Seattle