Floor cleaner, Licorice and Fish

The Danes have a near obsession with Licorice. The stuff is everywhere, and there are more varieties than one can shake a stick at. They often say that the saltier the licorice, the better. And sure enough, one can buy salty licorice. But the plain salty variety is actually considered mild. There is another version that is even saltier. But it is nt quite salty either. Bev's first comment was that it tasted like Comet.

I thought "no way", so we asked the lab tech at Bev's work (where they do a lot of Chemistry), and sure enough, it is Ammonia Chloride they put on that, which is floor cleaner. In Danish it is called Salmiak. Oh, and did I mention it is awful?

Fast forward to Norway, and Bev's trip to Tromso. One of the things she ate there was lutefiske. Apparently they prepare it by first salting cod, and then soaking it in Floor Cleaner! After that they rinse rinse rinse. The result is somewhat like fish jelly, apparently. And to prepare it at home, you buy floor cleaner and follow the lutefiske directions on the bottle (instead of the floor cleaning directions).

All this begs the question, what is it with Scandinavians and floor cleaner?