Pečeni Šaran

The story

Roasted carp is made for the meatless Christmas Eve, Badnji dan, of the Serbian Orthodox tradition, when meat and dairy are strictly avoided in anticipation of Christmas—which, by the Julian calendar the Serbian Orthodox Church still uses today, is celebrated on January 7. In Orthodox fasting practice fish is permitted on many days of the Nativity fast, and although the strictest church rules leave it out on Christmas Eve itself, popular custom long ago put it on the table, and that made carp and other river fish the natural centerpiece of the Christmas Eve table in Serbian homes, as well as in Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian ones—all sharing the same fish, each country with its own way of preparing it. The carp is most often roasted whole in the oven or cooked over a grill, depending on the region and the family's custom. Badnji dan in Serbia also includes the burning of the badnjak (a special branch or log) and a series of other rituals before the evening meal. For Serbian families in the diaspora, whose Christmas falls on a different date than that of neighbors celebrating on December 25, preparing carp for Badnji dan in early January is often the moment when the community most clearly keeps its own calendar and identity.