Aischgründer Karpfen

Appearance & taste

The back of the Aischgründer Karpfen is dark green, grey or grey-blue, the sides are yellow-green to golden and the belly yellowish white. The dorsal and tail fins are grey, the tail and anal fins tinged reddish, the pectoral and pelvic fins yellowish or reddish. Its high back is typical: height and length are in a ratio of about 1 to 2 to 1 to 2.5. Live, the table carp weighs 1,000 to 3,000 grams.

The flesh is white, firm and yet tender, and the fat content is at most 10 %. Its taste is described as not earthy (not “mooselnd”), pleasant and reminiscent of freshly boiled potatoes.

Production

Because carp grow in the warm summer months, their age is counted in summers. In the Aischgrund a carp usually grows up over three summers: in the first year the K1 is raised from the egg, after overwintering it grows into a K2, and after another winter it usually reaches the desired weight as a K3 in the third summer. At least this last production period, from the K2 fingerling to the K3 table fish, is spent in the area; during this time it usually gains more than one kilogram and develops its flavour.

The carp feed mainly on natural food such as bottom fauna and zooplankton. From K2 onwards, legumes and cereals are usually fed as a supplement from April to September, but no maize, about two kilograms of feed per kilogram of growth. Certain compound feeds made from arable crops without animal components, with at most 16 % crude protein and at least 10 % grass meal, are also permitted. The low fat content is ensured by the stocking density of at most 800 K2 carp per hectare and feeding matched to it.

Origin & history

The area covers all carp ponds in the districts of Erlangen-Höchstadt, Neustadt a. d. Aisch, Bad Windsheim, Fürth, Kitzingen, Bamberg, Forchheim and Nürnberger Land and in the towns of Erlangen, Forchheim, Bamberg, Nuremberg and Fürth. In the middle Aischgrund, impermeable Keuper clays form the base of the ponds; added to this are the gentle slope of the valleys, numerous springs and soils that are only partly suitable for farming. According to the specification, the Aischgrund is the warmest pond area in Germany, with an annual mean of 8 to 9 °C; the limiting factor is not temperature but water. In the rain shadow of the Frankenhöhe and the Steigerwald, 600 to 650 mm of rain falls each year, and only about 530 mm towards the south-east. Warmth and fertile ponds are considered the reason for the high back.

Pond farming in the Aischgrund arose in the Middle Ages with the many monasteries, which needed fish for the months-long periods of fasting. According to the specification, the Aischgrund is today the largest contiguous pond area in Germany. The carp also shapes cultural life: in Höchstadt an der Aisch a stone carp stands as a landmark, and the carp season traditionally lasts from 1 September to 30 April. Many inns have long offered carp and keep it fresh in their own tanks.