On 2014-06-26 23:39:40 +0000, jinx the minx said:

> Oregonian Haruspex > wrote:
>> On 2014-06-25 20:59:53 +0000, sf said:
>>
>>> On Wed, 25 Jun 2014 19:44:27 +0000 (UTC), jinx the minx
>>> > wrote:
>>>>> sf > wrote:
>>>>> On Wed, 25 Jun 2014 15:31:10 +0000 (UTC), jinx the minx
>>>>> > wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Second to that, lefse.
>>>>>>>> I've seen that word before but never looked it up to see what it was.
>>>>> Seems very tasty, I think I'll try making it someday. In modern
>>>>> times, do most people start with leftover mashed potatoes?
>>>>>>>> No, it is not made with leftover mashed potatoes ever. I'm sure there are
>>>> recipes out there on the net using them or, god forbid instant potatoes,
>>>> but that's heresy. In order for the dough to work, there can't be any
>>>> lumps in it, which is why they use a potato ricer and not a masher. It's
>>>> extremely time consuming to make, so I wouldn't recommend doing it by
>>>> yourself. Imagine rolling out dozens of pie crusts and cooking them all
>>>> one at a time. It takes forever. And if you aren't good at rolling out
>>>> pastry paper thin without it ripping, forget it. It doesn't turn out well
>>>> if you overwork the dough, so you can't just re-ball and re-roll it. My
>>>> mom, one of my sisters and I make it every year before Christmas. There is
>>>> definitely an art to it, despite it having only 3 ingredients. That said,
>>>> I would not ever consider buying a mass produced version of it from the
>>>> store.
>>>> I found a recipe that uses only one pound of potatoes, so I'll give it
>>> a shot someday. I'm pretty good at rolling round dough and getting it
>>> thin, so that part won't be a problem. Thanks!
>>
>> It's generally not consumed except around Christmas-time along with the
>> traditional lutefisk meal, as it's such a pain to make. When lefse are
>> perfectly made, they are somewhat difficult to distinguish from a garden
>> variety flour tortilla.
>
> What?! Other than you can roll them with stuff inside, I would never
> compare lefse to a tortilla. Number 1, lefse is paper thin. Number 2, they
> taste nothing alike unless you've never had proper lefse. You are
> absolutely right though about it being a pain to make.

To my palatte they both have a sort of plain, bland, starchy flavor. I
have had a LOT of lefse and all of it was home made (I didn't even know
that they manufactured it!) so I guess maybe what I had was not up to
snuff. I never really cared for it anyway so maybe that explains my
lack of enthusiasm.