Baked Carp
Have the fish opened at the gills and the intestines drawn out through the opening. Wash the flesh with vinegar and let it stand for fifteen minutes. Fill the fish with a bread stuffing, and sew the head down firmly. Brush the fish all over with an egg, cover it thickly with bread crumbs and a few lumps of butter. Put 2 chopped onions and a bunch of parsley in the pan, and a cup of water mixed with 1 teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Bake for an hour in a moderate oven, basting occasionally. When the fish is done, place it on a heated platter and garnish with slices of lemon. Add enough water to the gravy in the pan to make a half pint. Thicken with a tablespoonful of flour rubbed into 1 of butter. Cook for a moment, strain, add the juice of a lemon, and pepper and salt to taste. Serve in a gravy-boat.
A whole stuffed baked fish in the older manner, gutted through the gills so the belly stays closed and holds its stuffing. Nothing here is unsafe; the main adjustments are oven temperature, timing by weight, and finding the fish.
- Oven temperatureA moderate oven is 350F. At that heat a stuffed whole fish is done when the thickest flesh behind the head reaches 145F and pulls cleanly from the bone.
- Time by weight, not the clockThe recipe names no weight; an hour would suit a carp of roughly 4-5 lb. Reckon on about 12-15 minutes per pound for a stuffed whole fish and check early; a 2 lb fish will be dry long before the hour is out.
- Gutting through the gillsA fishmonger will usually do this if asked, though you may get a belly-slit fish instead. If the belly is opened, skip the sewing at the head and simply truss or skewer the cavity closed.
- The vinegar washCarp from warm still water can taste muddy, and the fifteen-minute vinegar rest was intended to freshen and firm the flesh, though it will not remove a strong off flavour entirely. Pat the fish dry before egging or the crumbs will slide off.
- Bread stuffingNo quantity is given. For a 4-5 lb fish allow about 3 cups of soft breadcrumbs bound with an egg and 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter, seasoned with onion, parsley, salt and pepper. Pack loosely so it cooks through.
- Half a pint of gravyThat is one US cup. A tablespoon of flour rubbed into a tablespoon of butter is a beurre manié and gives a light sauce; whisk it into the hot pan liquid off the boil, then return it to a simmer for a minute to lose the raw flour taste.
- Sourcing the fishCommon carp is rarely sold at supermarket counters but can often be found at Chinese, Eastern European and Jewish markets, sometimes live. Mirror carp is a variety of the same fish; buffalo fish, or a whole striped bass or snapper of similar size, will take this treatment as well.
- YieldA 4-5 lb stuffed fish serves four to six. Carp is bony along the back and through the flanks; warn the table.