Czech Carp in Spicy-Sweet Sauce

Name: Czech Carp in Spicy-Sweet Sauce
Yield: Serves Four
Cuisine: Czech
Ingredients: 30 ml/2 tbsp flour; 3 slices of dark pumpernickel bread, processed into crumbs; 1 strip of lemon peel; 40 g/1½ oz/⅓ cup raisins; 15 ml/1 tbsp sugar; 2.5 ml/½ tsp allspice; dumplings and fresh bread, to serve; 175 ml/6 fl oz/¾ cup dark ale; 8 whole black peppercorns; 50 ml/2 fl oz/¼ cup red wine vinegar; 2 cm/¾ in piece of root ginger, peeled and grated; 1 bay leaf; 5 ml/1 tsp chopped fresh thyme; salt and ground black pepper; 4 thick carp or sea bream steaks; 50 g/2 oz/4 tbsp butter; 2 small parsnips, diced; 2 carrots, diced; juice of 1 lemon; chopped fresh chives, to garnish; ¼ small celeriac, diced; 1 onion, sliced; 6 ready-to-eat prunes; 30 ml/2 tbsp hazelnuts and almonds, roughly chopped

Preparation info

Serves
Four

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Complete Guide to Traditional Jewish Cooking

By Marlena Spieler

Published 2016

About

In the “old country”, carp is generally sold alive, often kept in fresh clean water in the bath until required. Eastern European Jews brought this tradition to New York, where the bath tub tradition endured, to the bemusement of neighbours and landlords!

Ingredients

50 g/2 oz/4 tbsp butter
1

Europe
Czech Republic
Fish course
Pescatarian
Eastern Europe

Method

Melt half of the butter in a flame-proof casserole. Add the onion and cook for 2–3 minutes, then stir in the carrots, parsnips and celeriac. Cook for a further 5 minutes before adding the lemon juice, red wine vinegar and dark ale. Pour in just enough water to cover.