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I’m putting this in the lake fishing forum because that’s where the story began, at Lake Lanier. Some fifty years ago a friend of mine and I were at the tail end of a couple of weeks of North Georgia fishing. Trout at Warwoman Creek, crappie at Lake Chatuge, and bass (that was the plan) at Lanier. Naturally, we were short of funds by that time and had to decide between food and beer. Fishermen that we were and prone to bad choices we spent the money on a,dozen minnows and however much beer the balance would buy. All set to reel in the bass we cast our minnow into the lake and waited for supper to bite. Down went the float and the fight began. But things just didn’t feel right. Plenty heavy but sluggish. Maybe a channel cat. But when the critter got close we saw,a flash of gold. CARP, on a minnow. All we could catch were carp. Tried to cook them to. That was when we sensed that God was giving us a tutorial on decision making. However prepared, our catch tasted like muddy cardboard and was laced with more bones than any living creature should have. Since then I’ve been searching for a way to cook carp and enjoy it. Sonya pointed the way. Hearing my lament she pulled out a flyer from the fisheries folks in Kansas, where she was raised, pointed to a recipe for pickled carp and said she liked it. Tonight we tried my first attempt and, by golly, it was pretty good. Basically cut up carp filets, brined for an hour, drained and rebrined, drained, rinsed and cooked in a picking fluid of vinegar, sliced onion, crushed bay leaves, allspice, cloves, garlic powder, lemon pepper, brown sugar, alum and general pickling spices. Pack in pint jars and refrigerate. I’m going to adjust by adding more salt and sugar to balance the vinegar but all in all the recipe was a success. Even with only one day in the pickle those pesky y-bones were softened. After a little more time they’ll be no problem at all. We’ll see if the Hooch still has some spawners that I can tag with the bow. After all this time I can finally say carp can be good eatin’.
Come on, where’s your sense of adventure, your pioneer spirit. Of course, after some of the stuff I ate in Olongapo in the 70’s I’m liable to eat just about anything. Raccoon’s not half bad but out of season. Come back with one of your own favorite game or fish concoctions. Always interested in trying something new.
Since BFMHUNT is an adventurous soul I’ll give the full recipe. Its for ten pounds of fillet so can be reduced if you have less. Brine fillets in 1 cup salt (uniodized) in a gal. of water for an hour, drain and repeat. Mix 6 cups vinegar and 3 cups water, add 4 thinly sliced onions, 1 tbsp allspice, 1 tbsp crushed bay leaves, 1 tbsp whole cloves, quarter cup dark brown sugar, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1 tsp lemon pepper and a box of prepared picking spices. Bring liquid to a boil for 15 minutes. Slice the drained and rinsed fillets into chunks, cook in the vinegar mix til just done, pack fish and onion loosely in pint jars, add liquid to cover, cap, cool and store in refrigerator. Just tried another jar as snacks on Triskit crackers with a dollop of sour cream on top. Fantastic.
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