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Alsace
In the Sundgau, in southern Alsace, carp is cut into steaks, rolled in semolina and plunged into boiling oil — a restaurateurs' craft handed down since 1975, inherited from the ponds dug by monks in the Middle Ages.
Traditional dish from Alsace.
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The Sundgau is a land of legends, and one of them recounts the birth of fried carp. The son of the Count of Ferrette, in love with a shepherdess from Liebsdorf, is said to have run up against his father's refusal. Commanded to prove her worth through an extraordinary feat, the young woman reportedly caught some carp, which she prepared 'in her own way' and browned in oil. Won over by this dish, the count is said to have consented to the union and had a castle built for the sweethearts upon the rock where they met, known ever since as Liebenstein — 'the stone of love'. The same oral tradition places the origin of the dish in the medieval period, through the figures of a count's son and a shepherdess.
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Long before the legend, it was the monks of the Middle Ages who dug the first ponds and carp pools in the Sundgau, in order to build up reserves of fish for the long, lean weeks of Lent. This network of waterways, nestled between the gentle valleys of the Ill and the Largue and the first slopes of the Jura alsacien, still shapes the region's landscape today.
It was to keep this heritage alive that restaurateurs from the Sundgau, drawing on their expertise, came together on 24 September 1975 within the association Le Sundgau, Routes de la Carpe Frite. Around twenty of them are members today, supported by two partner fish farmers, Kohler and Bihl. Each year, they also take part in the Journées d'Octobre in Mulhouse, a popular autumn festival that brings together more than 150,000 visitors and sees over 80,000 meals served.
Appearance
A carp steak coated in a fine crust of wheat semolina, golden and crisp after frying, served with lemon, mayonnaise, salad and steamed potatoes or chips.
Aroma
Hot frying oil and the lightly toasted grain of the semolina.
Taste
The sweet, melting flesh of the carp, seasoned with salt and pepper, cut through by the acidity of the lemon.
Texture
Crisp on the surface, beneath the golden crust, and tender inside the steak.
the carp is cut into steaks, seasoned with salt and pepper, and lightly moistened with a dry Alsace white wine.
each steak is rolled in fine wheat semolina.
the steaks are plunged into an oil bath heated to 190°C for 3 to 4 minutes, then drained.
the fried carp is served hot, with salad, steamed potatoes or chips, lemon and mayonnaise.
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Fried carp is traditionally eaten with the fingers, bones and all, accompanied by chips and a touch of lemony mayonnaise — a popular ritual just as cherished by Haut-Rhin residents as by visiting tourists. The association's restaurateurs offer this dish all year round, but it is during Les Carpailles, the two weeks before Easter, that the Sundgau devotes whole menus to it, from tarte flambée through to dessert. For pairings, partner Wolfberger has created a dedicated cuvée for the occasion, the Pinot blanc « Carpe d'Or », whose freshness complements the crispness of the frying.
Carpe frite du Sundgau does not hold any official quality mark. Le Sundgau, Routes de la Carpe Frite is recognised as a « Site Remarquable du Goût » by the Fédération Nationale des Associations locales des Sites Remarquables du Goût — a gastronomic and tourism distinction, not one of the six official quality marks (PDO (AOP)/AOC/PGI (IGP)/TSG (STG)/Label Rouge/Organic).
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