Oberpfälzer Karpfen

Appearance & taste

The Oberpfälzer Karpfen has an elongated shape and weighs at least 1,000 grams live. Its flesh is white, firm, solid and low in fat, with a taste typical of the species. It is sold live or slaughtered, smoked, also in portions such as fillets or carp steaks, or as a ready-made product.

Production

The carp feed mainly on natural food such as bottom-dwelling organisms and zooplankton; cereals from local farms are fed in addition, but no maize. They spend at least the last growing season in the area: it begins in April of the third year of production with the K2 young fish, a carp that has already lived two summers in the pond, and ends with the sale as table fish, at least as K3 after three summers. Processed products must also be made from such carp.

Origin & history

The area is the Upper Palatinate administrative region in Bavaria. According to the specification, its altitude, subsoil and water quality set it apart from other pond regions. Temperatures are comparatively low, the soils mostly slightly acidic, and the ponds are farmed extensively, with only moderate supplementary feeding. As a result the fish grow more slowly and normally have lean, firm flesh; the subsoil and water also influence the quality of the flesh through the food chain.

Carp pond farming in the Upper Palatinate started from the Cistercian monastery of Waldsassen, founded in 1132. It flourished in the 15th century and had a renaissance in the 20th century. Today around 3,000 businesses farm carp on some 10,000 hectares of ponds; according to the specification, this gives the Upper Palatinate a leading role in Germany.