In the US it’s generally considered to be a bony, nasty tasting, trash fish. What do they do to it in Europe that makes it so desirable there?
Does it have a different diet there? Is the poor culinary reputation it has here, undeserved?
Hmm… possibly this would have gone more appropriately into Cafe.
I believe that it is considered a “bottom” feeder by most people in the USA. That means it eats the “gunk” that people assume is bad at the bottom of the tank. Depends on what you feed them really . . .
I don’t know if this is helpful but it relates so I will share. I grew up in rural Louisiana. When I was in first grade, the class was reading from one of those junior short story books. In the story, a little girl in NYC goes with her mother to the deli and orders some carp. My teacher said: “Carp! That is what Yankees eat. We don’t eat that. Just pretend it’s catfish.” I live in the north now and I have never seen anyone eat carp but perhaps they sell it somewhere in a NYC deli. My only real point is that it does elicit a pretty strong negative reaction in some Americans.
Recipe for carp.
You need a good hard board…oak works well.
Oil and season the board.
You scale and gut the carp and lay the fish on the board…
Cover the fish with aluminum foil.
Make a tent of it.
Bake it in a 325 degree oven for 3 minutes a pound.
Take the carp out.
Throw the fish away and eat the board.
True story!
Catfish is also a bottom feeder as well, yet it is adored and loved all over the South. Perceptions of fish are what you grow up with.
I believe carp are considered undersireable is simply because they have many intramuscular bones, and Americans tend to be picky about fish: less bones = desireable.
FYI, people make fun of “the Catfish House” up north! 
Two little clarifications:
The carp is a game fish in Europe. It’s mostly catch-and-release, from what I’ve read. A carp will make hard runs and spectacular jumps before surrendering. I’m not too sure about that “bottom feeder” stuff. In the UK, so I’ve read, carp are caught on a “hair rig.” A sinker takes your line to the bottom, and the bait (corn, boiled in syrup and berry juice) is played about 2 feet up with a styrene foam float.
I haven’t tried it, but I’m told that some parts of the carp are good eating. The two big muscles above the spine are worthwhile. and it’s considered a poor man’s dish around here. Leave the rest for the raccoons and opossums.
Carp is a traditional Christmas dish in the Czech Republic. I believe some people buy the fish live and keep it in their baths for a few days before it gets the chop. Keeps it nice and fresh.
I have never heard of it being eaten in my home country -the UK- but it is a popular game fish with anglers.
Is it possible that the American and European carps are different?
oddly enough, I just saw a giant carp at the fish market-man, those things look primeval, ancient…with those weird bony scales, and whiskers. Anyway, I’ve never eaten them…I am told they are fullof tiny little bones. In this , they resemble the shad (and american anadromous fish). Shad is supposed to be very tasty, but you have to know how to bone it.
My brother in law is a czech-and he confirms that carp is a traditional Christmas dinner dish in his home country…though I would refrain…I’d be worried that such a bottom-dwelling fish might absorb a lot of mercury, toxins, etc.
Like in the Czech Republic carp is a holiday dish in Germany (notably at Christmas and on 31 December).
As the North American carps are descendants of European carps imported from the 1870s on (see http://www.carpanglersgroup.com/northamericancarphistory.html ) they are probably not that different.
AFAIK in Germany the supply of carps for eating purposes is mainly not from angling but from ponds set aside for raising carp (no effluent in these ponds!). They are harvested with nets, aided by partial draining of the ponds, IIRRC.
This different source could be one reason for a different perception. Another could be that there seems to have been a massive carp hype in the US in the last part of the 19th century - perhaps today’s attitude is a reaction to that?
Carp is often part of that rare species of fish known as the gefilte!
Carp have many tiny bones. A large catfish can be cut into steaks between the ribs without bones.
My objection to eating game fish like brim when I was a kid was dealing with those tiny bones.
According to the Wisconsin DNR (Dept. of Natural Resources) fish advisory for mercury and PCB contamination, bottom-feeding carp and suckers actually have the cleanest flesh among all fish. I asked the guy who put together the advisory why this is. He said carp and suckers are the only fish in Wisconsin waters that do not prey on other fish, so they don’t concentrate as many fat-soluble contaminants as the ones higher on the food chain.
As a delicacy, home-pickled carp tastes as good or better than imported pickled herring. We have also smoked carp steaks in a smoker we made from an old refrigerator, and they tasted pretty good with beer. A book I once read about traditional Japanese medicine praised carp as a healing food, but I don’t remember for what.
Let me tell you some of the things I thought tasted pretty good with beer.
Bream are great. Gut 'em, cut off the head and fins, fry 'em nice and crisp and eat the whole thing, bones and all. I’ve heard of people eating carp, but I haven’t tried one. I have tried to catch the dern things with no luck at all. I’ve used dough balls, corn, peas, and small bits of crayfish tails as bait—maybe I am just not a good carp fisherperson.
Growing up near St. Louis I ate carp. It had lots of small bones and soft white flesh that tasted like mud. As a constantly-hungry 11 year old I couldn’t finish it. Catfish caught in the same water was another story. It had a pleasantly gamey taste and the flesh pulled easily away from the bones.
I swallowed a large bone sideways when I was very small. I was firmly convinced that I would die should it happen again.
Old people in my area used to say that it helped to “bait” the area first to draw them in. They’d let corn sit in a tub of water until it started stinking, then take it to their favorite fishin’ spot in hopes it would attract carp.
I’m not attesting to the effectiveness, just sharing what I was told as a kid.