IMAGESofFISHERMEN.COM

Thanks all readers and special thanks to Nanna in Stockholm, Nathalie in Paris and Lady Elaine at the Fishermen’s Mission in Great Britain for your support, help and interest in “Images of Fishermen”. 2007 has indeed been a year with both reflections and expanded plans of our business activities so, undoubtedly, 2008 will become a very interesting year. In the pipeline: several exhibitions, starting in Sweden and then travelling further to Denmark and some other Nordic countries, to name some. Maybe I’ll see you there. Meanwhile, Happy New Year!

Remember the photo essay in ‘Images’ about Bakur FD 1201 and Stelkur FD 1202 (see also ‘Nasty Weather’ below)? With the December arrival of the pair trawlers Heykur FD 1203 and Falkur FD 1204, Runavík based vessel operator Beta (now part of Faroe Seafood) finalized its replacement program of the old ‘Cuba Trawlers’. The new, 38.60m long identical pair trawlers were built by M Cíes in Vigo, Spain, like Bakur and Stelkur were five years ago. A couple of months ago, another pair came, Rókur FD 1205 and Lerkur FD 1206, two trawlers of similar size and engine power as the others, however these were not newbuilds but were relatively new nonetheless and refitted to match in length (38.80m) after they had been bought from their Scottish and Irish owners.

When I was a little girl, me and my mother used to go to a fish market known as “Feskekörkan” (or “Fiskekyrkan” — “Fish Church”) on every Christmas to find the best lutfisk (lutefisk) in Gothenburgh. The lutfisk dish is a traditional Swedish dinner on Christmas Eve. But what is lutfisk? Well, “lut” means lye and you translate lutfisk to mean “lye fish”. So lutfisk was invented when someone discovered that dried fish became white and plump again when soaked in a bath of lye. Lutfisk is prepared by first soaking dried fish, usually ling (fairly mild in taste) or saithe (coarser consistency and a more typical lutfisk taste) in a lye bath, and then rinsing off the lye in subsequent baths of water. This process can take more than two weeks. Many still want their lutfisk with white sauce, salt, and pepper. If you want to see some modern recipes, you can check them out www.lutfisk.nu. Bon appetite and Merry Christmas!