In today’s episode of Smörgåsbord, Angel and Mik travel to Central Europe to discover the legend of the festive carps of the Czech Republic. It is said that during Christmas, the people of the Czech Republic would keep live carps hiding in their bathtubs before consuming these fishes for Christmas. What’s the deal?! Why do they keep them in bathtubs? Are they magical? And as always, do they taste good?

 

00:00 Opening Song

00:43 Show introduction

03:15 Where on earth is the Czech Republic?

05:55 Religion in the Czech Republic

10:49 Christmas traditions in the Czech Republic

14:40 What are carps?

18:48 The history of festive carps of the Czech Republic

21:30 The carp in the bathtub during Christmas

27:09 How is the festive carp cooked in the Czech Republic?

31:26 The tradition of festive carps today

36:34 Killing a carp

41:40 What’s in your palette?

 

Smörgåsbord Podcast is a show where we explore the rituals, myths and all things strange about the world of food. If you like what you hear, remember to subscribe to the show to get new episodes automatically downloaded to your device!

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This podcast is presented by Halo Halo Productions. Come check out their other shows at halohaloproductions.com 

 

 

Resources from today’s episode:

“5 Christmas Traditions Only Czechs Will Understand” by Diana Bocco

“10 Czech Christmas Traditions” by Klara Hajkova

“A Czech Christmas: fish soup, potato salad and False Snails” by Peggy Grodinsky

“Are Czechs the least religious of all?” by Dana Hamplová

“Bottom Feeders: What They Are, What They Eat, and Whether You Should Eat Them” by Julie K

“Carp – The Festive Fish” by Beyond Prague

“Carp for Christmas: the odd Central European tradition explained” by KafkaDesk

“Christmas Carp” by Jan Purkrábek

“Christmas in Czechia / Czech Republic” by WhyChristmas?.com

“Czech Christmas Customs and Supersitions“ by MyCzechRepublic

“Czech Santa” by Prague.net

“Fish Facts: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Common Carp But Were Afraid to Ask” by Phil Monahan

“Fried Carp, Symbol of Czech Christmas” by Czech Specials

“Jezisek vs. Santa Claus” by Nicole Klement

“The Story Behind Czech Christmas Carp” by Erin Naillon

“There’s a Carp In My Bathtub! Czech Christmas Traditions” by Kytka

“Understanding Prague's Traditional Carp Christmas Massacre” by Marianne Crone

“Unlike their Central and Eastern European neighbors, most Czechs don’t believe in God” by Jonathan Evans