St. Nicholas’ Day (Никулден)

Today we celebrate Никулден (St. Nicholas’ Day) in Bulgaria. He is the patron saint of fishermen/fisherwomen; he’s also the patron saint of Burgas, my hometown. So we’ve had several days of celebration culminating in a ceremony of fishing out a cross out of the sea. One of the priests tosses a silver cross from the pier into the sea. People then dive and the first person to gets good luck for the year (and a possibly a cold).

the pier in Burgas

Those silly rituals led by men in musty dresses don’t appeal to me. This day is also a day when fish is the traditional meal, especially carp. That’s what I care about. I have always fondly remembered the only time before today when I had it, stuffed with walnuts, onions, and tomatoes, so long have I wanted to replicate the recipe. I tried doing it in Madison, but finding carp was next to impossible. Eventually I found out that Asian Midway had fresh carp on Fridays. So I went there only to find that the carp they had was bigger than my oven! So I tried the recipe with black sea bass and it was scrumptious. Finally today I made the original recipe with carp and it turned out delicious. I’ve included it after the fold.

St. Nicholas Carp -- final result

St. Nicholas Carp

For the fish: I bought a small (1.7kg) carp. The size of the fish doesn’t matter as much as whether you can put in your roasting pan or not. As I’ve mentioned the recipe also works with sea bass. Start by scaling the fish. Do this under running cold water. That way the scales don’t fly all over your kitchen. Then slit the fish’s belly and remove the viscera. Wash the cavity under running cold water. Keep washing the fish until there water runs clear of the blood. Salt the cavity and let it sit while you prepare the stuffing. (Put the fish somewhere cold, like the fridge).

For the stuffing:

• 2 large onions
• 1/3 big carrot
• 4 medium tomatoes
• 1.5 cups walnut chunks
• 2 tsp lovage
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 1/3 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• several sprigs of dill
• olive oil, salt to taste
• bamboo skewers (or strong toothpicks)

Preheat the oven to 225C. Roughly chop the onions, carrots, and 3 of the tomatoes.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the onions and carrots. Saute them for about 10-15 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the spices and stir and cook for a several minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, reduce the heat to low and let simmer until everything is tender. Then add some chopped fresh dill and the walnuts and cook for another 5-7 minutes.

Now you are ready to stuff the fish. Place the fish in a roasting pan and stuff it with the….stuffing (what else!). Then use the bamboo skewers to close the belly. If you are into arts and crafts, you can also sew the fish with needle and thread. You’ll have plenty of stuffing left to put under and around the fish. Now slice the 4th tomato into slices and arrange on top of the fish. If you want, put some sprigs of dill on top of the fish.

Put the fish in the oven and bake at 225C for about 10min. Then lower the temperature to 180C and bake for another 30-40 mins. Baking time depends on the size of the fish, the oven etc. I would start checking it after 45 min to see if its done. It’s done once the meat is opaque and kind of flaky.

The recipe is for about 4 servings. Enjoy!

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