View source for Turtle soup

{{Short description|Soup made with turtles}}
{{for multi|the album by the Turtles|Turtle Soup|the album by the Mock Turtles|Turtle Soup (Mock Turtles album)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox food
| name             = Turtle soup
| image            = Turtle soup chinese.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = Chinese turtle soup
| alternate_name   =
| country          = Various
| region           = [[China]], [[Malaysia]], [[Taiwan]], [[Japan]], [[Singapore]], [[Indonesia]], and [[United States]]
| creator          =
| course           =
| type             = [[Soup]] or [[stew]]
| served           =
| main_ingredient  = [[Turtle]] meat
| variations       =
| calories         =
| other            =
}}

'''Turtle soup,''' also known as '''terrapin soup,''' is a [[soup]] or [[stew]] made from the meat of [[turtle]]s. Several versions of the soup exist in different cultures, and it is often viewed as a [[delicacy]].<ref>{{cite book | last1=Collin | first1=R. | last2=Collin | first2=R.H. | title=New Orleans Cookbook | publisher=Alfred A. Knopf | year=1987 | isbn=978-0-394-75275-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3evczYLsl5sC&pg=PA27 | language=fr | access-date=January 31, 2015 | page=27}}</ref>

==Culinary description==
The principal characteristic of turtle meat is that the broth it is cooked in becomes extremely [[Gelatin|gelatinous]] once cooled. Turtle meat has no characteristic taste on its own, so the flavor of turtle soup depends entirely on seasoning. [[Mock turtle soup]] is made from other gelatine-producing meat such as calf's head and calf's feet.<ref name="obst">{{cite book |last1=Obst |first1=Fritz Jürgen |title=Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins |date=1986 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=0-312-82362-2 |page=182 |edition=1}}</ref>

==Versions==
=== England ===
Turtle soup gained popularity in England in the 1750s but declined rapidly about 150 years later from overfishing.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Clarkson|first=Janet|title= Soup: a global history|date=2010|publisher=Reaktion|isbn=978-1-86189-774-9|location=London|pages=115–118|oclc=642290114}}</ref> According to food historian Janet Clarkson, the dish, which she describes as one of several "noteworthy soups",  became a symbol for civic dinners and {{blockquote|From 1761 to 1825 it was never absent from the London [[Lord Mayor's Day]] Banquet. It is probably not unreasonable to hold several generations of aldermen and other civic leaders responsible for driving the turtle to near extinction.<ref name=":0" />}}

[[Green sea turtle]] first became popular in England as "sea-tortoise" circa 1728: "Its Flesh is between that of Veal, and that of a Lobster, and is extremely pleasant&nbsp;... They are frequently brought to England in Tubs of Sea Water, and will keep alive a long time."<ref>''The Country Housewife and Lady's Director'', by Prof. R Bradley, 1728</ref> The earliest English recipes are for roast or boiled turtle, only later being used in a soup. About 1740–1750, it began to be widely imported to England, from [[Ascension Island]] or the [[West Indies]].<ref name=":0" /> Samuel Birch is credited with being the first to serve turtle soup in London, spicing it with lemons and cayennes; it quickly became immensely popular, and Lord Dudley stated, "Of British soup, turtle always takes precedence in the list of honour".<ref name=":1">''Soup Through the Ages: A Culinary History with Period Recipes'', by Victoria R. Rumble, McFarland, 2009, page 66. {{ISBN|9780786453900}}</ref> Giles Rose made turtle soup as follows: "Take your tortoises and cut off their heads and feet and boyl them in fair water, and when they are almost boyl'd, put to them some white wine, some sweet herbs, and a piece of bacon, and give them a brown in the frying pan with good butter, then lay upon your bread a-steeping in good strong broth, and well-seasoned; garnish the dish with green sparrow-grass [asparagus] and lemon over it."<ref name=":1" />  In ''Cookery and Domestic Economy'' (1862), the recipe begins as follows: "take the turtle out of the water, turn it on its back, tie its feet, cut off its head".<ref>''Cookery and Domestic Economy'', Mrs. Somerville, 1862.</ref> By about 1800, a good dinner portion was {{convert|6|lb|kg|round=0.5|order=flip}} of turtle, live weight, and in London Tavern in August, 1808, 400 men ate {{convert|2,500|lb|kg|sigfig=2|order=flip|abbr=on}} of turtle in their dinner soup.<ref name=":1" />

According to Clarkson, "It is difficult to overestimate the magnitude of the demand for turtles" during the period of the soup's popularity. As many as 15,000 turtles were shipped live to Britain from the West Indies.<ref name=":0" /> Turtles became viewed as a fashionable and exotic delicacy, ranking alongside [[caviar]].<ref name="obst" /> Because of its popularity, the green turtle population plummeted, and its cost rose correspondingly. [[Isabella Beeton]] noted in 1861, "This is the most expensive soup brought to the table".<ref>''Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management: Abridged Edition'', by Isabella Beeton, Oxford University Press, 2008, page 93. {{ISBN|9780199536337}}</ref> Thus, long before that time, [[mock turtle soup]] made from calf's head was widely adopted as a more economical substitute and became popular in its own right, with the two dishes sometimes being served at the same banquet.<ref name=":0" />

The sixteenth-century English country house [[Burghley House]] is one of the few places in the country where the evidence for this former delicacy is still visible. On the wall of the kitchen are several [[green sea turtle]] (''Chelonia mydas'') skulls which date back to this practice.<ref name="Bonthron&Allainetal">{{cite journal |last1=Bonthron |first1=James D.|last2=Allain |first2=Steven J. R |date=2024 |title=The Historical Significance of the Green Sea Turtle (''Chelonia mydas'') Skulls at Burghley House, Lincolnshire. |journal= The Lincolnshire Naturalist: Transactions of the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union |volume= 31 |pages= 15–18}}</ref>

=== United States ===
In the United States, turtle soup is a heavy, brown soup with an appearance similar to thick meat gravy. The [[common snapping turtle]] has long been the principal species used for turtle soup.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-08-03 |title=Snapping turtle makes for a delicious dinner {{!}} Arkansas Democrat Gazette |url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2014/aug/03/snapping-turtle-makes-delicious-dinner/?f=threerivers |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=www.arkansasonline.com |language=en}}</ref> In this case the soup is also referred to as ''[[bookbinder soup]]'', ''snapper turtle soup'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Snapper |url=http://www.ichef.com/recipe.cfm/recipe/Snapper |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713001717/http://www.ichef.com/recipe.cfm/recipe/Snapper |archive-date=2011-07-13 |website=iChef}}</ref> or simply ''snapper soup'' (not to be confused with ''red snapper soup'', which is made from the fish [[red snapper (fish)|red snapper]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fish Soup with Red Snapper and Vegetables |url=https://www.thespruceeats.com/soup-with-red-snapper-1705798 |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=The Spruce Eats |language=en}}</ref> In the Chesapeake Bay, the [[diamondback terrapin]] was long the species exploited in turtle soup manufacture. Canneries processed and exported tons of product until the turtle populations collapsed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-02-12 |title=Canku Ota - How the Partridge Got His Whistle |url=http://turtletrack.org/Issues03/Co01252003/CO_01252003_Partridge_Whistle.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030212144704/http://turtletrack.org/Issues03/Co01252003/CO_01252003_Partridge_Whistle.htm |archive-date=2003-02-12 |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=Turtle Track |language=en}}</ref> Similarly in the San Francisco Bay, the [[Pacific pond turtle]] was the base of a minor industry with the canned product sent to eastern markets by rail.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 2023 |title=Wandering Western Pond Turtles Turn Up in Muir Woods |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/wandering-western-pond-turtles.htm |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=U.S. National Park Service |language=en}}</ref>  

Whereas turtle soup was a royal delicacy in Europe, during the colonial period, colonists fed these abundant and easily captured animals to servants, slaves, and livestock. Eventually, slaves protested their terrapin-heavy diets and sought to mandate that terrapin be served no more than three times per week.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-10-19 |title=Washington's Lost Food Craze: Terrapin Soup {{!}} Boundary Stones |url=https://boundarystones.weta.org/2017/10/19/washingtons-lost-food-craze-terrapin-soup |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414141850/https://boundarystones.weta.org/2017/10/19/washingtons-lost-food-craze-terrapin-soup |archive-date=2024-04-14 |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=boundarystones.weta.org |language=en}}</ref>

The 27th U.S. president, [[William Howard Taft]], hired a chef at the [[White House]] for the specific purpose of preparing turtle soup.<ref>{{cite news |last=Burnett |first=Arlene |date=June 26, 2008 |title=Slow food: Turtle soup is a throwback to an earlier elegant time |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/food/2008/06/26/Slow-food-Turtle-soup-is-a-throwback-to-an-earlier-elegant-time/stories/200806260465 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151129090624/http://www.post-gazette.com/food/2008/06/26/Slow-food-Turtle-soup-is-a-throwback-to-an-earlier-elegant-time/stories/200806260465 |archive-date=2015-11-29 |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]}}</ref>

{{as of|2016}}, various dishes made using turtle, including turtle soup, were served by a restaurant in [[Minnesota]], mostly during [[Lent]]. The owner said that it was primarily older customers who had previously eaten turtle who ordered the turtle dishes; younger diners are much less interested.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2016/03/21/lenten-feature-turtle-may-drop-off-menu-altogether/81859190/|title=A Lenten feature, turtle may drop off menu altogether|first=Ann|last=Wessel|date=March 21, 2016}}</ref>

== Poisoning ==
Eating the flesh of some marine turtles can cause a rare, but possibly lethal, type of [[food poisoning]] called [[chelonitoxism]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.toxicon.2006.12.002 |pmid=17250862 |title=Chelonitoxism: New case reports in French Polynesia and review of the literature |journal=Toxicon |volume=49 |issue=6 |pages= 827–32 |year=2007 |last1=Fussy |first1=Agnès |last2=Pommier |first2=Philip |last3=Lumbroso |first3=Catherine |last4=De Haro |first4=Luc |bibcode=2007Txcn...49..827F }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Turtle farming]]

{{Portal bar|Food}}

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
{{Cookbook}}
* [http://nytts.org/asianturtlecrisis.html Asian Turtle Crisis]

{{Soups}}
{{Turtles in human activities}} 
{{Singaporean cuisine|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:American soups]]
[[Category:Bahamian cuisine]]
[[Category:Chinese soups]]
[[Category:English soups]]
[[Category:Historical foods in American cuisine]]
[[Category:Indonesian soups]]
[[Category:Singaporean cuisine]]
[[Category:Taiwanese soups]]
[[Category:Turtle dishes]]
[[Category:Vietnamese soups]]