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My grandma used to cook them in a pressure canner and make patties like salmon patties. Not bad at all fried, don't remember if she trimmed the red meat out or not. If they weren't good to eat they wouldn't be made out of meat

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They are in the same family as Talapia and most people eat that. Carp can be eaten and I'm sure enjoyed.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-community/clean-fillet-cook-carp-zmaz75mjzgoe.aspx

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Not the same family at all! Tilapia are cichlids, and Carp are cyprinids (goldfish, koi, etc).

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My grandma used to cook them in a pressure canner and make patties like salmon patties. Not bad at all fried, don't remember if she trimmed the red meat out or not. If they weren't good to eat they wouldn't be made out of meat

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Carp, gar and 'possum are three things I have not found a way to make palatable.

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Gar is actually quite mild, just as mild tasting as catfish, just firmer texture not as flaky.

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X1000.. Ive caught hundreds of them and never tried one till last year. After eating a few Ill never throw one back again.

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People here shoot them with bows and throw them on the bank...

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We've been asked several times for carp and drum by local poor folks who were fishing from the bank. We've always been happy to pass them along.

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Whoa! Drum is one of the few fish we can stick with an arrow that is choice eating.  Best Midwestern ceviche fish EVAR!

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I've eaten decent smoked carp.  Some people would probably take offense if I said where I got it from. That aside, it was good.

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Just my humble opinion !!

All fresh " CARP ", from a " Clean Water Source ", are good eats.



However, you have to take into consideration; the flesh is a little bland, and not as firm or oily as other fish (okay, plus a few extra small bones).. , but it still good " Fishing & Eating ".



I know people that absolutely refuse to eat " Catfish ", since its a " Bottom Feeder ", in their opinion.... !



" Dear Sir: Your article on carp excited some fond memories of my days in Omaha from 1955 to 1963, when I could go to Joe Tess Place for carp sandwiches. That was the BEST fish I've ever eaten. And the restaurant is still going strong under current owner Bill Falt."

Harry W. Johnson III ; Carp Smithsonian July 1980

http://joetessplace.com/go/reviews/review/Omaha-World-Herald/



Checkout this link, lots of good info !

US Carp Pro Magazine

http://www.uscarppromagazine.com/uscarppromagazine/Home.html





http://chestofbooks.com/food/recipes/How-To-Cook-Fish/Twenty-Two-Ways-To-Cook-Carp.html

This section is from the book "How to Cook Fish", by Olive Green. Also available from Amazon: How to Cook Fish.

Description

Twenty-Two Ways To Cook Carp



Baked Carp - I

Clean a carp and cover it with salted cold water and vinegar. Soak for an hour, then drain and dry. Stuff with seasoned crumbs, sew up, and put into a deep baking-pan. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and dot with butter. Add two sliced onions and a pinch of sweet herbs, a cupful each of sweet wine and stock, and a teaspoonful of anchovy paste. Bake for an hour, basting as needed. Take out the fish, strain the liquor, thicken with a tablespoonful of butter rolled in flour, and season with salt, pepper, lemon-juice, and a pinch of sugar.



Baked Carp - II

ful of water, and a teaspoonful of Worcestershire sauce. Bake in a moderate oven, basting as required. Add enough water to make a cupful of the liquid remaining after taking up the fish. Thicken with a tablespoonful of flour blended with an equal quantity of butter, strain, add the juice of a lemon, and pepper and salt to season.



Stewed Carp - I

Clean and scale a carp, pouring boiling vinegar over the fish to facilitate the process. Wrap in a cloth and cook it gently in court bouillon. Serve with a sauce made of court bouillon, strained and thickened, with a few capers and a little anchovy sauce added.



Stewed Carp - II

Mix together one tablespoonful of salt, half a teaspoonful of pepper, and a pinch of powdered mace. Rub a cleaned fish with it, both inside and out. Leave it in a cold place for two hours. Then put into a kettle, cover with boiling water, add a small onion sliced, a sprig of parsley, a bay-leaf, and a teaspoonful of marjoram. Simmer until done, drain, and serve with Cream Sauce.



Boiled Carp

Put a cleaned carp into a saucepan with sufficient beef stock to cover. Add an onion, four cloves, a bunch of sweet herbs, and salt to season. Simmer until the fish is done. Take out the fish and strain the sauce. Add two cupfuls of beef stock and thicken with browned flour. Boil until thick, add a wine-glassful of white wine and the juice of half a lemon. Pour the sauce over the fish and serve.



Pickled Carp

Put a cleaned carp into a fish-kettle and pour over it boiling vinegar and a cupful of Claret. Add two carrots and three onions chopped fine, and sage, thyme, bay-leaves, parsley, cloves, and bruised garlic to season. Simmer for an hour and let cool in the liquid.



Carp A L'Ltalienne

Clean, scale, and slice the fish. Fry with onion, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper, using plenty of butter. Add white wine to cover and simmer for ten minutes; then put in the oven and bake until tender. Add two lemons sliced and one cupful each of chopped almonds and currants. Cook long enough to soften the currants, adding stock if necessary.



Carp A L'Allemande

Clean and cut into strips two pounds of carp. Add one wineglassful of Claret, one cupful of beef stock, one cupful of chopped mushrooms, a carrot and an onion chopped fine, and salt, pepper, thyme, clove and parsley to season. Simmer for an hour, add a tablespoonful of capers, and serve on buttered toast.



Carp A La Bordelaise

Chop fine an onion, a carrot, and a bunch of parsley. Add two cupfuls of white wine, a clove of garlic, three cloves, and salt and pepper to season. Cook for fifteen minutes, then add two quarts of cold water. Boil the carp in this sauce and drain. Prepare a sauce as follows: Chop fine a small onion and a shallot. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft with a wineglassful of Claret. Add two cupfuls of beef stock and bring to the boil. Thicken with two tablespoonfuls of browned flour rubbed smooth in a little cold water, season with salt, red pepper, minced parsley, and chives, and add a small piece of cooked chopped marrow. Pour over the fish and serve very hot.



Broiled Carp

Broil as usual and serve with melted butter, lemon-juice, and minced parsley poured over it.



Carp A La Francaise

Cut the cleaned fish into square pieces and put it into a saucepan with four tablespoonfuls of olive-oil, one cupful of Claret, and a tablespoonful of butter blended with an equal quantity of flour. Add a chopped clove of garlic, a shallot, a quarter of a pound of mushrooms, and salt, pepper, and minced parsley to season. Cook for twenty minutes and serve.



Fried Carp - I

Soak the fish over night in salt water. Drain, rinse in cold water, season with pepper and salt, dredge in flour, and fry in butter.



Fried Carp - II

Cook the carp in court bouillon, drain, and cut in slices. Cover with a very thick Cream Sauce and let cool. Dip in crumbs, then in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat.



Fried Carp - III

Clean the fish and cut it into convenient pieces. Dip in milk then in seasoned flour, and fry in hot fat.



Carp A La Coblentz

Boil the fish with one cupful of Rhine wine, two cupfuls of white stock, two carrots and two onions sliced, half a cupful of sliced mushrooms and minced parsley, salt, pepper, and sweet herbs to season. Add water if the stock is not sufficient to cover. Boil for half an hour, take the fish up, then thicken the sauce with butter and flour, and add the juice of half a lemon with another tablespoonful of butter. Pour over the fish and serve.



Baked Carp A La Mariniere

Clean the fish and line it with bacon. Boil carefully in court bouillon to which one quarter of the quantity of white wine has been added. Boil for five minutes, then put the pan into the oven and bake for an hour and a half, basting frequently. Take out the fish, strain the liquid, thicken with browned flour, add a wineglassful of white wine, and boil until thick. Rub through a sieve and add three tablespoonfuls of butter. Pour over the fish and serve.



Steamed Carp

Scale and clean the fish and steam until done. Serve with sour cream or with a Drawn-Butter Sauce seasoned with lemon-juice.



Carp In Matelote

Cook the cleaned carp in a fish-kettle with two sliced onions, a bunch of parsley, a little salt, a few pepper-corns, two cloves of garlic, a quart of red wine and a pint of water. Cook slowly for forty minutes and take out the fish. Strain the sauce and reduce by rapid boiling to one quart. Thicken with butter and browned flour and boil for half an hour. Skim, add three tablespoonfuls of butter, one tablespoonful of anchovy paste, and the juice of a lemon. Pour over the fish and serve.



Carp A La Bourguinotte

Stew the carp in red wine, drain, and place on a platter. Cook four shallots, two cloves, a blade of mace, a pinch of thyme, a bay-leaf, and a mushroom for five minutes in enough red wine to cover. Add enough beef stock to make the required quantity of sauce, and thicken with butter and browned flour. Cook until thick, strain, and pour over the fish.



Carp A La Perigueux

Cook the carp in wine and drain. Chop six truffles fine, add a tablespoonful of chopped raw ham, a pinch of thyme, and a bay-leaf. Cook for ten minutes in sufficient white wine to cover. Add a cupful of beef stock and thicken with butter and browned flour.



Cook until thick, rub through a sieve, add a tablespoonful of butter and a little anchovy paste and the juice of half a lemon.



Carp A La Lyons

Clean the fish and cut into thick slices. Soak for an hour in a marinade of oil and vinegar, season with salt, pepper, thyme, bay-leaves, and chopped onion. Drain, dip in flour, then in beaten egg, then in bread-crumbs, mixed with Parmesan cheese. Fry in deep fat and garnish with lemon and parsley.



Carp A La Provencale

Stew the carp in court bouillon and white wine. Drain and place on a platter. Cook together two tablespoonfuls each of chopped ham and olive-oil, four bruised cloves of garlic, a pinch of thyme, a bay-leaf, a tablespoonful of capers, a peeled lemon sliced, a small bunch of parsley, and paprika to season. Cook for five minutes, add enough beef stock to make the required quantity of sauce, and cook for ten minutes. Thicken with browned flour, rub through a sieve, skim, add a tablespoonful of butter and a little anchovy paste, and pour over the fish.





PAPI

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Carp, gar and 'possum are three things I have not found a way to make palatable.

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I'll try almost anything once and the wife feels the same way. To that end, we fried up a carp while we were camping once. The taste was actually not bad but the bones were a real bitch. If there were a way to get all those bones out, I'd definitely eat 'em. We catch at least one almost every time we go fishing.

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Do you guys soak them in brine overnight or just clean and cook?

Any advice on bowfin? Our swampier waters are lousy with them.

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A guy I worked with used to smoke them. He would bring them to work and share. Pretty tasty.

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I haven't tried cooking those yet, but I am wondering if blackening it with creole seasoning, then adding hot sauce could make it more palatable.



BTW...you make Opie cry when you eat possum

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...Somewhere out there is an old magic black guy cookbook that looks like a deep fried Necronomicon.  ...
 

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 Klatu verata infarction!

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You can filet all freshwater fish with no bones.  Whoever cleaned them did it wrong if there were bones.  This applies to ALL freshwater fish.  No freshwater fish is "bony".  I'm more concerned about taste.  Thanks for your input.  I'm thinking about canning it like salmon to make cakes, etc.