Eating some form, or even multiple forms of turtle soup is on my bucket list. My interest in this comes from being a fan of “Alice in Wonderland”, in which a character called the Mock Turtle sings a song called Turtle Soup. The soup in question was considered a great delicacy in Victorian times and beyond, until sometime during the 20th century, when it went out of style and when the species of turtle in question, the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) became endangered and protected. Even in its heyday, real turtle meat was expensive, so the middle classes might make do with “mock turtle soup”, which substituted green turtle meat with a calf’s head or trotters (hence the standard depiction of the Mock turtle in Alice starting with the original illustrator, Sir John Tenniel, where the character is given a realistic turtle’s body but the head and legs of a calf). So my first question: who here has actually tried green turtle soup while it was still available? Or mock turtle soup - and if so, does a soup made of calf offal really taste anything like turtle or is this wishful thinking?
Second question: given that the sea turtle is now protected, what are my options?
I know that in Louisiana, people eat snapping turtle soup. I’d love to try this, but don’t expect to have the opportunity to go to Louisiana anytime soon. Suppose I did, though. Would the dish be similar to that which was originally eaten in the 19th century or is it something different (as I gather from different Youtube videos, recipes significantly vary and snapping turtle soup is apparently more stew-like than the original English green turtle soup, not that I wouldn’t be anything but very enthusiastic about trying it).
Could an acceptable substitute be found to green turtle? I have seen one recipe online using some kind of presumably Asian turtle sourced at the Chinese-oriented Canadian supermarket T&T. (Don’t know where I could find that in the Czech Republic, but perhaps I could ask at a Vietnamese market). Suppose I were to follow a Victorian recipe in all other respects? (It’s a rather rich soup, with multiple ingredients other than turtle, such as sherry.) Would the result be similar to the green turtle soup of old?
Has anyone ever eaten any other kind of turtle-based soup? What was it like?
I was surpised that the ‘snapper soup’ served at a few restaurants in the area was turtle. I always assumed it was the fish, red snapper. As these were restaurants in Philadelphia and New Jersey, I don’t think you need to go to Louisiana or even the southern US to find snapper soup.
I’ve found great joy in eating Turkish Delight (as mentioned in C S Lewis’ works) and drinking the mead mentioned in D’Aulaire’s Book Of Norse Myths. I wish you find such joy in your quest.
You can order turtle soup from Commanders Palace via Goldbelly.com. Cajungrocer.com sells turtle meat. I haven’t tried turtle soup, but I hope to some day.
Growing up in New Orleans, I’ve had turtle soup a few times. I remember the soup having a unique flavor - kind of tangy, due to the seasoning. But the meat didn’t taste unusual at all, by my memory.
There used to be a place in Detroit called The Turtle Soup Inn— a girlfriend at the time introduced me to it. I don’t know what type of turtle it was, or if it was even maybe mock turtle, but it was really good. It was thick with chopped up turtle meat and veggies like peas and carrots. I used to stop by there pretty often and get a quart of it to go. If I felt like I was getting a cold a big bowl of turtle soup seemed to ward it off.
One time I brought a friend to try some turtle soup. We were eating big bowls of it when the owner came up to us. He nodded and said to us “turtle soup makes you horny! I eat a big bowl, go home to my wife, make her happy!”
I’ve had turtle soup 3 times in my life, twice at the Court of the Two Sisters in New Orleans (back in 1978 and again in 2016, and the Taste of Chicago festival sometime in the late 1980’s. All 3 times I absolutely LOVED it. It was a very hearty, meaty, savory broth that was unlike any I’d had before, and it really pushed my buttons. If it’s on the menu somewhere I go, I will try it again.
I enjoy reading vintage menus in the subreddit of that name:
Soup from sea turtles seems to have mostly dried up during the mid 60s with a few hanging around as mentioned upthread. However, by virtually all accounts, it was a unique and delicious dish with any substitutions considered inferior.
In the back of my mind, I seem to remember a downstate Illinois tradition of river turtle soup.
Back in Arkansas the preferred eating turtles were the Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera) and the Smooth Softshell Turtle (Apalone mutica). It’s been a long time since I had any. I don’t know if people in Arkansas still eat turtles today or not.
But now that I think about it, I have at least two cousins, a nephew, a brother, and a sister-in-law that would eat one if given a chance.
I have a friend in Virginia who catches and eats snapping turtle, you don’t have to go to Louisiana. I had turtle soup years ago, I remember it came with a shot of sherry that you added to the soup to your liking. I remember liking it.
My wife tried to make turtle soup once, using a frozen turtle from T&T. She didn’t know that you were supposed to remove the shell (for that particular species). Our kitchen smelled like the reptile house at the zoo.
Oddly, just last week in my boredom I noted a recipe for Mock Turtle soup. I discarded it because, come on! I remember it was based on hamburger or ground veal, hard cooked eggs, and a lot of tomato and spices. After reading it over a few times, decided it wouldn’t be a big hit, sounded more like a sloppy joe recipe.
This is an early video from one of my favorite You Tubers. TL : DW - the husband/dad caught two snapping turtles in a nearby creek, and they were pleasantly surprised at how much meat they got from them.
Yes, that’s it. If I were in Canada and wanted to try this, I’d simply go there. As I now permanently live in the Czech Republic, I’d have to find some other alternative.
