614—Turtle Soup

With the exception of a few leading London restaurants, where a large quantity of this preparation is constantly in demand, turtle soup is very rarely prepared in the kitchens of catering establishments. It is more generally obtained ready-made, either fresh or preserved, and as a rule of exceptional quality, from firms whose speciality it is to make it, and who deliver it in excellent condition.

From among the London firms who have deservedly earned a reputation for this soup, “Pécriaux” may be quoted as one whose produce is quite irreproachable.

When a comparatively small quantity of this soup is required, it is best to buy it ready-made; in the event of its being desirable to prepare it oneself, the following recipe will be found the simplest and most practical for the purpose.

Particulars of the Operation

The Slaughtering of the Turtle.—For soup, take a turtle weighing from 120 to 180 lbs., and let it be very fleshy and full of life.

To slaughter it, lay it on its back on a table, with its head hanging over the side. By means of a double butcher’s hook, one spike of which is thrust into the turtle’s lower jaw, while the other suspends an adequately heavy weight, make the animal hold its head back; then, with all possible dispatch, sever the head from the body.

Now immediately hang the body over a receptacle, that the blood may be collected, and leave it thus for one and one-half or two hours.

Then follows the dismemberment:—To begin with, thrust a strong knife between the carapace or upper shell and the plastron or lower shell, exactly where the two meet, and separate the one from the other. The turtle being on its back, cut all the adhering flesh from the plastron, and put the latter aside. Now cut off the flippers; remove the intestines, which throw away, and carefully collect all the green fat. Whereupon cut away the flesh adhering to the carapace; once more remove all fat, and keep both in reserve.

The Treatment of the Carapace, the Plastron, and the Flippers.—The carapace and plastron, which are the outside bony framework of the turtle, constitute the only portions wherefrom the gelatinous flesh, used as the garnish of the soup, are obtained.

Saw the carapace into six or eight pieces, and the plastron into four.

Put these pieces with the flippers into boiling water or into steam, to No. 273, Blanchings. Withdraw the flippers as soon as they are sufficiently stiff for their skin to be removed, and leave the pieces of carapace and plastron to No. 273, Blanchings for five minutes, in order that they may admit of being scraped. Now cool the pieces of carapace and plastron and the flippers, and put them into a stewpan containing enough water to abundantly cover them. Set to boil; garnish with vegetables, as in the case of an ordinary broth, and add a small quantity of turtle herbs.

Five or six hours should be allowed for the cooking of the carapace and the plastron, but the flippers, which are put to further uses in other culinary preparations, should be withdrawn at the end of five hours.

When the pieces are taken from the cooking-liquor, remove all the flesh from the bones, and cool the former; then trim it carefully, and cut it into little squares of one and one-half inches side. It is these squares together with the green fat (poached in salted water and sliced) which constitute the garnish of the soup.

The Preparation of Turtle Soup.—There are two modes of procedure, though their respective results are almost identical.

1. Make a broth of the flesh of turtle alone, and then add a very gelatinous beef consommé to it, in pursuance of the method employed when the turtle soup is bought ready-made.

This procedure is practically the best, more particularly if the soup has to be kept some time.

2. Make an ordinary broth of shin of beef, using the same quantity of the latter as of turtle. Also include half a calf’s foot and one-half lb. of calf’s shin per 3 lbs. of the beef. Add the flesh of the turtle, or, in the event of its being thought necessary to clarify, which operation I do not in the least advise, reserve it for that purpose.

The condiments and aromatics being the same for both methods, I shall now describe the procedure for method No. 1.

The Ingredients of the Soup.—Put into a stewpan of convenient size the flesh of the turtle and its head and bones. Moisten partly with the cooking-liquor of the carapace, and complete the moistening, in the case of a turtle weighing 120 lbs., with enough water to bring the whole to 50 quarts. By this means a soup of about thirty to thirty-five quarts will be obtained at the end of the operation. Add salt in the proportion of one oz. per every five quarts; set to boil; skim, and garnish with twelve carrots, a bunch of leeks (about ten bound with a head of celery), one lb. of parsley stalks, eight onions with ten cloves stuck into them, two lbs. of shallots, and one head of garlic. Set to boil gently for eight hours. An hour before straining the soup, add to the garnish four strips of lemon-peel, a bunch of herbs for turtle, comprising sweet basil, sweet marjoram, sage, rosemary, savory, and thyme, and a bag containing four oz. of coriander and two oz. of peppercorns.

Finally, strain the soup through a napkin; add the pieces of flesh from the carapace and plastron which were put aside for the garnish, and keep it until wanted in specially-made sandstone jars.

The Serving of the Soup.—When about to serve this soup, heat it; test and rectify its seasoning, and finish it off by means of a port wine glass of very old Madeira to every quart.

Very often a milk punch is served with turtle soup, the recipe being:—

Milk Punch.—Prepare a syrup from one-half pint of water and three and one-half oz. of sugar, the consistence at the boil being 170° (Baumé’s Hydrometer). Set to infuse in this syrup two orange and two lemon zests. Strain at the end of ten minutes, and add one-half pint of rum, one-fifth pint of kirsch, two-thirds pint of milk, and the juice of three oranges and three lemons. Mix thoroughly. Let it stand for three hours; filter, and serve cold.