Czech Christmas Carp

Tom got his Christmas wish! Ever since he heard about the Czech tradition of a carp dinner, he has been bugging Laura and I to cook one for him. Since we both refused, he tried our friend Connie, who amazingly agreed to give it a try.

As you may know from previous year's posts, about December 18th temporary carp ponds spring up all over Prague. I counted 6 such carp stations in our neighborhood alone! These little tanks hold live carp, which are to be cooked and eaten on Christmas Eve. The Czechs either buy a live fish to keep in the bathtub until the appointed time, or the fish guys will cheerfully kill, skin and fillet the fish for you.

Our job was to get the carp, so we headed out to our local carp station......

We actually had to wait in line for our fish - so while there we struck up a conversation with the woman ahead of us. She was Czech, but spoke English, and she was amused and happy to think that a bunch of Americans would join in this tradition. She helped us out by suggesting the size of fish to purchase, and approved of the one that was caught for us.

I stopped watching right about here- let me just say that we ended up with some nice fillets. We declined to take the fish head or guts with us, but I noted that the guys put it carefully under their counter, as other customers were buying extra heads for their fish soup.

Connie had asked all her Czech students the best way to prepare the carp, and she had specific instuctions. We soaked the fillets in milk, flavored with a bay leaf.

Bruce and Connie's daughter Sarah, visiting from LA, was chef number 2. (I mostly watched and told them where to find needed items in my kitchen.) Sarah cut the fillets into smaller pieces, which were then rolled in spiced flour - a mix of cornmeal and regular - then dipped in egg, and lastly rolled in bread crumbs.

Then into the frying pan they went!

Sarah had also prepared a fantastic German potato salad, which is the usual accompaniment to the fish dinner.

And you know what? It was really good!! We managed to eat almost all of the fish. Even I ate two pieces, and I don't like fish much. We topped off our meal with apple pie and ice cream, and agreed that this meal was a success!