Fränkischer Karpfen

Appearance & taste

The back of the Frankenkarpfen 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, and the pectoral and pelvic fins yellowish or reddish. Live, the table carp weighs 1,000 to 3,000 grams.

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

Production

Because the carp grows during the warm summer months, its age is counted in summers. In Franconia it usually grows up over three summers: in the first year the K1 is raised from the egg, after overwintering it grows into the K2, and after another winter it usually reaches the desired weight as a K3 in its third summer. It must be kept in the area at least from the K2 fingerling to the K3 table fish, i.e. for at least one production period.

The carp feed mainly on natural food such as bottom fauna and zooplankton. From K2 onwards they are given legumes and cereals as supplementary feed, but no maize; certain compound feeds made from arable crops without animal ingredients, with at most 16 % crude protein and at least 10 % grass meal, are also allowed. The low fat content is ensured by the limited stocking density of at most 800 carp of stage K2 per hectare.

Origin & history

The area comprises all carp ponds in Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia. The ponds stretch in a belt through the Rednitz basin and the upper Altmühl, Aisch and Wörnitz valleys, mainly in the Keuper and especially on the light sandy soils of the Burgsandstein. The alternation of sandstone and clayey, water-retaining layers favours pond building: the soils lose little seepage water, so small inflows or rain are enough to maintain the water level over the summer. With 600 to 650 mm of precipitation a year and a mean of 7 to 9 °C, the climate is warm and dry; according to the specification, the ponds are more fertile than in the cooler Upper Palatinate.

Carp have been produced in the region for about 900 years, historically closely linked with the Franconian monasteries. Pond farming shapes the landscape and cultural life: there are books of anecdotes about it, songs about the carp and exhibitions on the subject. Many restaurants in Franconia have offered carp for a long time and keep it fresh in their own tanks; a typical Franconian preparation is split, fried carp.