Carp (Ciprinus) in brine with polenta (Saramura de Crap cu mamaliga)

Today I present a dish from Romania, which I like very much. It is carp marinated in brine, then grilled or baked, and immersed in a mix of red peppers, chillies, parsley, and garlic. It is served with steaming hot polenta (mamaliga in Romanian).

Carp is a sweet water fish that is found in abundance in Romania. You can find it alive in the market, and bring it home to cook.

Kalin, my good friend in Bucharest was kind enough to treat me to a truly exceptional dish.

He bought the fish alive in the market, and brought it to the kitchen of the wonderful Boutique Hotel Christina (which is his latest entrepreneurial project) , where Katalin, the young talented chef got to work to prepare the Romanian traditional dish.

The fish is gutted, descaled, and filetted. The sumptuous chunks are then put in a brine (saramura in Romanian) for a while, and then baked (or grilled).  In parallel, cloves of garlic and chilli peppers are sauteed and sweet red peppers are added. the mix is drowned in the brine of the fish.

The baked chunks of the carp are then served, with the tasty mix on top, and a good portion of steaming hot polenta.

Absolutely delicious!!! We enjoyed the dish with a wonderful white Romanian wine, “Livia” (the grape is Feteasca Alba). Thank you Kalin, thank you Katalin!!!