Carp recipies

[Baka]

Hello all,
Has anybody eaten carp, or have a good recipie? i will be hunting for carp soon, and want to something else with them besides smoke them.

[fogish]

You actually eat carp? The only way I have heard to cook Carp is to get a cedar shingle, put the carp on top of it, cook over a fire until it smells appealing. Then you throw the carp away and eat the shingle.

The only thing I really know about carp is that the meat can taste "muddy" at least that is how it was described to me. This only occurs in the spring I believe, when the water is moving faster, and the silt on the bottom of the river or lake is stirred up more.

I will ask around some of the shops and lakes to see if anyone actually has a real recipe, I am betting something cajun would taste pretty good... Good luck with this.

[Veronika]

Its quite common to eat carp @ some regions around here. As far as I know - just have been told, never tried it never cooked it and probably never will - they taste ok if you put them in clear freshwater for a few days before u kill them. So not a real option for spearfishing . If you don't, they taste very muddy; most people wouldn't consider eating them.
Do you read German? If so, google for "Rezept Karpfen". Plenty available on the www, e.g. http://www.biofisch.at/karpfenrezepte.htm.

Veronika

[trux]

Carp is used for the traditional Christmas Eve feast in Czech lands. It is actually excellent meal, and there are hundreds of recipes. For most of Czechs, Christmas without a carp is like beer without alcohol, coffee without caffeine, or love without sex.

You can read about the Czech Christmas traditions here, here, here, or here (some carp tank photos)

Also, the ceremony preceding the Christmas, with buying the carp, keeping it in a tub, killing and preparing it, is a inseparable part of the Christmas ceremony, and I cannot imagine the Holidays without it.

Few days before Christmas, people use to buy the carps living from big tanks that are on every corner. They keep them a day or two in a tub in clean water. That helps cleaning the fish and losing the mud smell. After killing and cleaning the fish many people let it submerged in milk for several hours to get rid of the resting lake smell.

The most common and most traditional way is carp fried in a triple breaded envelope (similarly like a Vienna schnitzel) together with an excellent potato salad (sample recipes for the potato salad).

You can find many dozens of carp recipes in Czech, but I found only couple of them in English (some of them may be more or less identical, because they come from different sources):

• Carp w/ Sour-Cream Sauce
• Czech Christmas Carp Recipe
• Recipe For Baked Carp
• Carp w/ Sour-Cream Sauce
• Strawberry Carp Bait
• Fried Carp
• Roast Carp with Sour Cream
• Gypsy Carp
• Carp Poached with Caraway
• Carp Poached with Paprika
• Poached Carp
• Bohemian Carp
• Carp with Sour-Cream Sauce
• Czech Christmas Fish Soup

There are also many international carp recipes here:

• http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=carp
• http://www.recipesource.com/cgi-bin/...ch_string=carp
• http://cookbook.rin.ru/cgi-bin/cookb....pl?title=carp
• http://www.foodieview.com/search.jsp...=carp&recipe=y

I found also another DB thread about carps:
http://forums.deeperblue.net/archive...p/t-63113.html

The christmas carp soup is excellent too - I do no know any better soup and even my French wife who does not eat river/lake fish, and dislikes carps especially, loves the Christmas carp soup my mother does. It is quite long and complicate to prepare though.

[Baka]

All of the carp that i will be going after are in the 10-60Lb range (4.5-27Kilograms) will this be an issue? I know that with some species, the larger they are the more they take on strange tastes, like larger halibut tend to take on a woody taste.

[trux]

Well, in Czech Rep. the carp never has the chance to grow that big. We usually eat them when they are 3 - 10 lbs (1.5-4.5kg) - up to some 2 feet (60cm). Only very exceptionally you can get some exemplars of uo to ~8kg, but most people prefer the small ones (~1.5-2kg). I am afraid that the really big ones will taste quite strong. Also the probability of parasites may be higher. I'll ask my friend for more details - he is biologist and works in the fish breeding and parasitology research. Although he is now specialized in ornamental fish breeding (aquarium fish), he was specialized in carps after finishing the university.

[trux]

OK, so I just spoke to the friend - parasites shouldn't be any problem. As for the huge size of the carps, he told it would be excellent for smoking: cut the fish accross to get horseshoe shaped stakes; you will probably need to bind it by some kind of net since the carp meat is quite soft, then put it in a sauce (water, some salt, spice, garlic, onions,...) for couple of days and then smoke in a chamber like salmon. After that, put it into oil with some onions and other ingredients - it should be delicious.

[naiad]

Originally Posted by Baka

All of the carp that i will be going after are in the 10-60Lb range (4.5-27Kilograms) will this be an issue? I know that with some species, the larger they are the more they take on strange tastes, like larger halibut tend to take on a woody taste.

Then this 50kg carp wouldn't be worth eating.

[Fondueset]

Like any fish - it depends on the water they live in. Carp have an undeserved reputation. Here they range at mid-depth - well above the bottom - and opportunistically feed on whatever will fit - small fish, crayfish, tourists, low flying aircraft, jetskis and elk.
Seriously - they prefer clear, cool water and tend to be on the move most of the time. They are tough and can live anywhere.

I've only had them smoked - but it is definitely best - as with most fish - to take smaller ones - less accumilation of pesticides and heavy metals.

[spaghetti]

Fondueset is right: carps taste better if they live in open, clean waters such as big lakes with waves and current (but I also read somewhere that taste of mud depends on one speficic algae they eat).
However, this is what we do in Italy to eliminate the taste of mud: keep them for a night, possibly alive, in a tank with water and vinegar.
I once had it cooked (buried) in the hot ashes of the fireplace. Not bad

[trux]

Some more recipes for smoked carp, and related information:

• carp recipes, hunting, handling, health and other information directly from the Canadian government Quite interesting! Includes several recipes: Chinese broiled carp steaks, Smoked carp spread, Carp fried in beer batter
• more carp recipes, including smoked carp
• another smoked carp recipe on a forum, including many valuable comments
• Carp -- Queen of Rivers or Pig With Fins?
• Special Carp Catchin', Cleanin' and Eatin' Section
• Carp Recipes
• Carp

Much more smoked carp information on Google

[Fondueset]

Go for the smaller ones though - mercury is a problem in fish that live as long as carp do - even if they are not apex predators.

[trux]

Mercury is generally problem at big fish like tuna, swordfish or shark - for pregnant women or children it is not advised to eat more than one meal from such fish per month.

More on contaminants in carp is available on the Ontarian governmental website linked above. A very detailed fish contamination PDF guide for Ontarian lakes and rivers (and not only for carps) can be downloaded here:
http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/guide/index.htm

I guess that other states and countries have similar information available too.

[naiad]

Originally Posted by Fondueset

Here they range at mid-depth - well above the bottom - and opportunistically feed on whatever will fit - small fish, crayfish, tourists, low flying aircraft, jetskis and elk.

They certainly will eat anything. They spend the whole day vacuum-cleaning their surroundings. It's worth hearing the noise they make when eating off the surface.