Czech caraway-baked carp (Kapr na kmíně)

1. Rinse the carp steaks (or fillets), pat dry with kitchen paper and score the skin side every 1 cm – this softens the small bones during baking and helps the seasoning penetrate.

2. Mix the salt and caraway seeds, rub the fish all over with them and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Lightly butter a baking tin, lay the fish in it skin side up and dot with the remaining butter.

4. Bake for 25-30 minutes, basting 2-3 times with the melted butter; it's ready when the skin is crisp and the flesh comes easily away from the bones.

5. Serve with lemon wedges, drizzled with the caraway butter from the tin.

6. Serve with boiled potatoes or Czech potato salad.

Tip: The ponds of Třeboň in South Bohemia have been one of Europe's largest carp farms for centuries; this butter-baked caraway version is the lighter, everyday sibling of the fried Christmas carp.