When I was growing up, my family lived on a
subsistence farm part of which lay in the bottom-lands along the
Kalamazoo River East of Battle Creek, Michigan. At that time before the
10 August 2010 Enbridge oil spill, the river was relatively unpolluted
and particularly after my Dad died when I was 12 we gathered a lot of
our meals from the river bottom-lands.
Even today if you can
find the rare areas of more or less unpolluted river bottom lands, the
marshes are some of the richest food gathering areas you can find.
One of the easiest meals were the huge carp that migrated up and
down the river to spawn. We netted them and also would spear them
whenever we got the chance and even occasionally caught one of the 20 to
30 pound monster fish on a hook and line, Wow was that a fight!
A carp is pretty much despised here but we ate them just as they do in
Europe. Grandpa would smoke them and we had several other recipes.
The instant the carp is out of the water kill it, hang it by the
lips and cut a half inch oval from the bottom of the tail just behind
the carp's anal orifice. The fish will bleed out from that and most any
residual taste from their indiscriminate feeding habits will leave
with the blood.
When the fish stops bleeding clean the carp by
scaling it, cut out all if its fins and a half inch area around them
skin the fish and then we found that by scrubbing the fish with a clean
clothe dipped in salted water it would remove any "muddy" taste. (use
about 1 teaspoon of salt per quart of water for your scrub)
Cook the carp as soon after cleaning as you can. A carp has soft flesh
and many bones but that never bothered us when we were hungry, and
smoked carp, smoked over a hickory or apple smoke is pretty good.
Here are some more recipes for the carp we caught.
My
grandpa's favorite was Carp in beer.
You will need
a
4 to 5 pound freshly caught carp cleaned as above.
a cup of salt.
2 medium sized white onions.
a lemon.
a bay leave.
6 black
peppercorns.
1 11 ounce bottle of dark beer, grandpa made his own so
I don't know what brand.
a tablespoon of fresh butter.
a
tablespoon of white flour.
a teaspoon of sugar.
a 1/4 teaspoon
of powdered ginger.
Now cut the fish into 1 inch thick slices.
Spread the fish pieces with salt covering both sides and let them lay
for 30 minutes.
Scrap of the salt and wipe the pieces of fish clean.
Lay the slices of fish in a large lightly greased skillet and place
over them piece of cheesecloth large enough to form a bag or a envelop
when doubled over on itself.
Put the onions and lemon on the piece
of cloth after slicing them very very thin, also the bay leaf and the
peppercorns.
Fold the cloth over to close it like a bag over the
onion and lemon slices tie both ends of the cloth bag.
Now pour the
beer over the fish, if it isn't enough to cover the fish slices add more
beer.
Close the pan and simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes.
The flesh of the fish should flake easily with a fork when the fish is
done.
Now remove and discard the bag with the onion and lemon slices
(we fed it to the pigs.)
Lift out the pieces of fish and slip them
to a warmer platter to keep warm.
Work the butter, flour sugar
and ginger into a smooth paste and add this in small flakes to the
liquid remaining in the pan.Stir it until smooth.
Pour over the fish
slices.
Serve.
This will serve 6 to 8 normal folks and
closer to 4 to 5 hungry farm-working kids.
Another good recipe
my Mom likes is Carp Fish in Tomato Sauce.
You will need:
a 4 to 5 pound cleaned carp, (see above on cleaning carp).
1 and
1/2 tablespoons fresh sweet butter.
6 green onions. (Mince them).
1 minced garlic clove.
a bay leave.
A pinch of Thyme.
1/2
teaspoon salt.
a large pinch or dash of black pepper.
2 cups of
red wine.
1/2 cup of tomato paste (we make our own from Roma
tomatoes)
2 tablespoons of cooking brandy.
This can be
cooked in a Dutch Oven or in a tightly closed pan in the kitchen.
Butter the pan or Dutch Oven well.
Heat the rest of the butter in a
skillet and saute the minced onions and garlic; add the bay leave, the
thyme and the pepper as they cook.
When the onions are tender but
not yet brown blend in the wine and the tomato paste and pour over them.
Simmer for some 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
Put the whole
cleaned carp into the Dutch Oven or Pan, strain the sauce over it and if
a Dutch Oven bury in the coals and cook for one hour. In the Kitchen
with a sealed pan cook for 40 to 45 minutes at 325 degrees.
This will serve 6 to 8 folks or closer to 4 to 5 hungry kids.
We also smoked the carp and used them as a fish barbecue as well as fed
them to our pigs. Never wasted much when I was growing up, we were poor
but the food was good.
Even today if you can find the rare areas of more or less unpolluted river bottom lands, the marshes are some of the richest food gathering areas you can find.
One of the easiest meals were the huge carp that migrated up and down the river to spawn. We netted them and also would spear them whenever we got the chance and even occasionally caught one of the 20 to 30 pound monster fish on a hook and line, Wow was that a fight!
A carp is pretty much despised here but we ate them just as they do in Europe. Grandpa would smoke them and we had several other recipes.
The instant the carp is out of the water kill it, hang it by the lips and cut a half inch oval from the bottom of the tail just behind the carp's anal orifice. The fish will bleed out from that and most any residual taste from their indiscriminate feeding habits will leave with the blood.
When the fish stops bleeding clean the carp by scaling it, cut out all if its fins and a half inch area around them skin the fish and then we found that by scrubbing the fish with a clean clothe dipped in salted water it would remove any "muddy" taste. (use about 1 teaspoon of salt per quart of water for your scrub)
Cook the carp as soon after cleaning as you can. A carp has soft flesh and many bones but that never bothered us when we were hungry, and smoked carp, smoked over a hickory or apple smoke is pretty good.
Here are some more recipes for the carp we caught.
My grandpa's favorite was Carp in beer.
You will need
a 4 to 5 pound freshly caught carp cleaned as above.
a cup of salt.
2 medium sized white onions.
a lemon.
a bay leave.
6 black peppercorns.
1 11 ounce bottle of dark beer, grandpa made his own so I don't know what brand.
a tablespoon of fresh butter.
a tablespoon of white flour.
a teaspoon of sugar.
a 1/4 teaspoon of powdered ginger.
Now cut the fish into 1 inch thick slices.
Spread the fish pieces with salt covering both sides and let them lay for 30 minutes.
Scrap of the salt and wipe the pieces of fish clean.
Lay the slices of fish in a large lightly greased skillet and place over them piece of cheesecloth large enough to form a bag or a envelop when doubled over on itself.
Put the onions and lemon on the piece of cloth after slicing them very very thin, also the bay leaf and the peppercorns.
Fold the cloth over to close it like a bag over the onion and lemon slices tie both ends of the cloth bag.
Now pour the beer over the fish, if it isn't enough to cover the fish slices add more beer.
Close the pan and simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes.
The flesh of the fish should flake easily with a fork when the fish is done.
Now remove and discard the bag with the onion and lemon slices (we fed it to the pigs.)
Lift out the pieces of fish and slip them to a warmer platter to keep warm.
Work the butter, flour sugar and ginger into a smooth paste and add this in small flakes to the liquid remaining in the pan.Stir it until smooth.
Pour over the fish slices.
Serve.
This will serve 6 to 8 normal folks and closer to 4 to 5 hungry farm-working kids.
Another good recipe my Mom likes is Carp Fish in Tomato Sauce.
You will need:
a 4 to 5 pound cleaned carp, (see above on cleaning carp).
1 and 1/2 tablespoons fresh sweet butter.
6 green onions. (Mince them).
1 minced garlic clove.
a bay leave.
A pinch of Thyme.
1/2 teaspoon salt.
a large pinch or dash of black pepper.
2 cups of red wine.
1/2 cup of tomato paste (we make our own from Roma tomatoes)
2 tablespoons of cooking brandy.
This can be cooked in a Dutch Oven or in a tightly closed pan in the kitchen.
Butter the pan or Dutch Oven well.
Heat the rest of the butter in a skillet and saute the minced onions and garlic; add the bay leave, the thyme and the pepper as they cook.
When the onions are tender but not yet brown blend in the wine and the tomato paste and pour over them.
Simmer for some 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
Put the whole cleaned carp into the Dutch Oven or Pan, strain the sauce over it and if a Dutch Oven bury in the coals and cook for one hour. In the Kitchen with a sealed pan cook for 40 to 45 minutes at 325 degrees.
This will serve 6 to 8 folks or closer to 4 to 5 hungry kids.
We also smoked the carp and used them as a fish barbecue as well as fed them to our pigs. Never wasted much when I was growing up, we were poor but the food was good.
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