Carp is the soft, slightly muddy-sweet flesh of the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), a hardy, big-scaled freshwater fish that is one of the oldest and most farmed food fishes on Earth. Central to Central and Eastern European tables — above all the fried or jellied Christmas carp — it is the classic fish of Ashkenazi gefilte fish and a daily staple of Chinese cooking, where it has been raised in ponds for thousands of years.