Fishtales
February 9, 1998
Gary Lee offers a essay on carp and a way to cook and eat them.
European Carp
Gary Lee
Hi to you all! I am a fishing photo journalist from Australia. My home town of Tamworth, is located in the State of New South Wales, about four hours drive inland from the easten coast and about six hours from Sydney.
My fishing area is quite large, many Impoundments containing native fish — golden and silver perch, redfin Perch, cod and bass, also eel-tail catfish and the dreaded European carp.Beautiful pristeen mountain streams pass through rugged mountain ranges, and contain rainbow and brown trout, boy! these hit your line with the speed of an express train.
I would like to share with you an article from "Questacon Magazine Spring 1997" about European carp. A great way to help reduce the population of this species of fish. For those who catch the European carp, I have included a recipe.
They Said "In Australia the European carp is considered to be a major contributor to degradation of the river enviroment. To raise awareness of this serious issue, Streamwatch and the Dept of Land and Water Conservation have fun fishing comps, cleaning demos, carp barbecue's, displayes and recipe comps — all aimed at turning the ubiquitous carp into a meal. "Europeans and Asians have eaten carp for a long time — in Holand the carp is considered to be a delicacy and bred in ponds for sale"
We in Australia have many names for the carp, some that I can't repeat, but "the river rabbit" is a popular one because of the damage caused to our waterways.
Education of our anglers,in regarding the carp as a good fighting fish and also good to eat, will go a long way in helping with the serious problem of discarded,and rotting fish carcases, on many rivers and impoundments foreshores.
The promised recipe:
Ingredients.
4 carp fillets, Cajun seasoning, Olive oil, salad, French dressing.
1. Thoroughly coat carp in cajun seasoning. 2. Heat oil in pan until very hot. Cook fillets for two minutes each side until brown or almost black. The hotter the oil, the darker the fillets. 3. Serve on a bed of salad.
If you have a favourate fish recipe or fishing tips, how about sending it on to me to try, and then I can pass them on to our readers in Australia
Regards
Garry Lee (The greying fish chaser)
Email garrylee@mpx.com.au
