“Dry Aged Carp”
Star chef experiments with local fish
The Berlin star chef Marco Müller can do a lot with carp. photo
© Marijan Murat/dpa
When it comes to carp, some people think of Christmas or New Year’s Eve. Star chef Marco Müller from the Berlin “Rutz” thinks that could slowly change. He’s got some ideas.
According to star chef Marco Müller, regional fish species such as carp are often still underestimated in the German gastronomic scene.
With the Berlin restaurant “Rutz” he has cooked up three stars in the Michelin Guide. He experiments with different approaches to carp – serving it like tuna or frying the scales until they are crispy.
Better fish from the Müritz than the Mediterranean
Several restaurants are now focusing on regionality, also with regard to the environment and climate. When he started cooking, they worked a lot with French products and had little appreciation for regional things, Müller said at the beginning of Berlin Food Week.
In the past, this was also due to the water quality of rivers and lakes when it came to fish in Germany, but this is no longer the case. Instead, Müller sees an opportunity to do something about overfishing in the seas with a regional alternative. “If I can get a carp like this from the Müritz, then I don’t need any tuna from the Mediterranean.”
His grandmother was happy to process carp for Christmas Eve every year, said Müller on Monday evening. But carp are not only good for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. You have to know how to cut around the bones, then you get a lot of great meat. At the beginning of the Berlin Food Week he served up a “Dry Aged Carp”.
One question for the festival this year is what nutrition may look like in the future and what alternatives there are to meat consumption. For example, a venison bratwurst, which consists of about half roasted vegetables, and a meat-free variant of Königsberger Klopsen were presented at the start.