It’s delicious! Common carp meat is large flaked, toothy, and brilliantly white. I find it has a very clean taste similar to very fresh hake or cod.

Of course, like with all fish, if it isn’t cooked within hours or frozen within hours of being caught, you have a very different story on your hands.

Also, when filleting common carp, you have to know a few simple skills about deboning that are different than with many other fish, or you can end up with fillets that have some small bones in them. I don’t actually mind eating around small bones in fresh fish, but I know that really puts a lot of people off.

A YouTube search on filleting carp should be enough to teach anyone the necessary techniques.