Turtle Soup or Eat Your Pets

Turtle Soup or Eat Your Pets

Ramonita (7 yo) is a great animal lover (as are all my girls). For this reason, we often visit our fine zoos. While I let the funnier comments fly, I often censor myself from asking how EVERY animal would taste. The family is used to my food obsessions and, if not tolerant, at least knows when to ignore me. Too often, we eat at the zoo, meat products are always involved, and no one seems to have a problem with this. I’ve even had a decent seafood meal at the Shedd’s “fine” dining establishment. The hypocrisy does not bother me and, perhaps, the perversity whets my appetite.

On a rainy Saturday, Ramonita and I will often visit our pitiful library (we’re building a new one). We enter silently (though everyone else is talking very loudly). She tiptoes off to the Dewey Decimal section on animals while I pick up the stack of cook books I’ve ordered. She wants to be a vet; I just want to eat. We meet at a table to whisper about our selections and linger in another father-daughter moment before checking out. Ramonita is very proud of her library card, though she would never dream of setting foot in the “young readers” area. No incongruity is cited.

At home, I will often verbally recite methods and recipes for rendering our fellow household animal companions into food. I think it interesting that the children always understand the humor in this while Mrs. Ramon can become suspicious and uncomfortable. Today the pet turtles were the apples of my culinary eye.

The turtles that live in my humble abode are not the little turtles you had for three days and then flushed dead down the toilet like when we were children. Our turtles are large (and meaty) and are known to roam the house at will. They seem to recognize their names. They exhibit personality differences. They will follow you around and look up at you expectantly. They are fed a variety of fresh food that I sometimes envy. Gizmo is a particularly friendly fellow willing to show a new and minute friend around the house.


I bandied the subject of turtle soup. I know I’ve sampled it before at Taste of Chicago (Binyon’s) and I’ve eaten it out of a can (Bookbinders). I vaguely remember a Justin Wilson recipe. Mrs. Ramon got nervous as I headed to my office computer.

Offhand I know turtle soup is complex in flavor – the word chicken-like is not an appropriate descriptor. Seafood fat is unique in character; think of the fat you suck out of a crawdad head. Turtle soup has a deep history in the culture of America centered around New Orleans. Sea turtles are endangered and should be left to their own devices but some turtles are farm raised for consumption.

One website discussed the difficulty of getting the turtle meat out of the shell. The first step was to cut off the head. The site cautioned that the head will continue to try and bite you even after being severed. While dodging, the decapitated body will try to walk away. Ramonita claimed this was “hilarious.”

And what else did I find Googling? A blog devoted to soup and outraged that they’d been tricked into eating precious turtle at the Drake (though the writer liked the soup a lot.) Readers’ comments were equally angered. The blogger passed on posting a recipe. Here is the recipe for Bookbinders Soup as served at the Drake – note there is no turtle in it.

Do not be fooled by lovely Indian Summer days of mild weather. This is not the time to revel but the time to gather and prepare to hunker down for storms to come. Batten the hatches, fill the deep freeze, stock the root cellar, and hang the sausages in the attic – quickly. Break out the stock pots and the bags of bones. I’m a sucker for good soup any day, and if necessary, I will prepare such with what is available. But I’ll pass on cooking the pets today.

-ramon

Ramon:

Great post... and great pictures...

Two questions:
1) What's the name of the tiny turtle?
2) How long ago was it that Binyons was at ToC? That soup was apparently their signature dish but they've been closed at least since the mid-'90's, no?

Anyway, yes, it's not yet time for the pets...

A

I had a similar experience at a diner in Delaware. I ordered the "snapper soup", expecting red snapper. Got snapper soup, meaning snapping turtle. At least that explained why they had the little cruet of sherry out there with the salt and pepper.

And I confess I didn't like it. Not at all.

So I say let the turtles live. I must say they seem to have personality far in excess of Ed's box turtle Sal (short for Salmonella), who mostly hung out in his cage, though he liked it a lot when we put the cage out on the lawn. Until one day up north we put it out on a rocky section of path and he managed to get under the sides and crawl away.

Antonius:

Thank you. The little turtle is named Chiquita (I wanted to name her Morsel). Of course, you are correct regarding Binyon's. I had the turtle soup at ToC last year (2004) and it was "Binyon's Turtle Soup" from Stanley's Kitchen and Tap (1970 N. Lincoln). Similar to the way that "Bookbinder's Soup" at the Drake is named for Bookbinder's Restaurant in Philly.


Ann:

I do hope you caught that while the Drake does describe this soup as "red snapper" it has no turtle in it, but red snapper fish.

You are quite correct regarding the personalities. Gizmo's "mate," the inevitibly named Yertle, is very unsociable and can be violent. If left out, she will usually just hide. Over time, though, she seems to have become slightly more friendly. Barring accident or disease, we will have decades to see if we can soften her up some more. These are in no way casual pets.

It is interesting to note that because we have not provided Gizmo and Yertle a sandy beach in which to properly bury their eggs, they will not breed. Imagine that, an animal intelligent enough to know that the circumstances are not appropriate for procreation and make the appropriate response.

-ramon

glad to see fellow enthusiasts here, I once had a half dozen box turtles living in my closet, a quartet of russian tortoises in the front room, a snapping turtle in the office, and a couple of sliders in the kitchen. since then i have reduced my collection to a dozen or so snakes and a couple of dozen geckos; reptiles are like crack or fried food, you cant have just one.

I must confess, i like turtle soup by the traditional preparation, although turtle can be tough and stringy if not processed correctly. would i eat one of my pets? if they tasted good enough, maybe...thats why i dont have any pet veal or hams.


Erik.

Hi,

Ramon wrote:The turtles that live in my humble abode are not the little turtles you had for three days and then flushed dead down the toilet like when we were children.

Yep, the 'tank' for these little turtles was a plastic molded island with a lone green plastic palm tree. They certainly never lasted long in my home. I remember reading these baby turtles cannot be sold because of disease related issues.

I don't yet have the particulars yet. I have learned there are several restaurants serving fried turtle in Illinois. Apparently there is a fine line between correctly cooked turtle and overcooked tough to eat turtle. There is at least one known restaurant in the Peoria area as well as another across from St. Louis in Illinois. Once I know, I will add to this thread.

Regards,

Ramon wrote:I had the turtle soup at ToC last year (2004) and it was "Binyon's Turtle Soup" from Stanley's Kitchen and Tap (1970 N. Lincoln). Similar to the way that "Bookbinder's Soup" at the Drake is named for Bookbinder's Restaurant in Philly.

Not quite the same thing. Jack Binyon is one of the owners of Stanley's.

My grandmother made both turtle soup and mock turtle soup when I was young and it was very good.

Until last year, Stegner's, out of Cincinnati, produced both soups and they were pretty good.

The stuff at Taste of Chicago was terrible. The stuff tasted like the cook added way too much sherry - and not good sherry - which overwhelmed the taste of the soup.

I would love to make turtle soup, but think I would be squeamish about killing the turtles myself. (I have no problem cutting live lobsters in half -- but doubt my hard-heartedness when it comes to turtles).

Does anyone know if a there is a shop in Chinatown that will kill turtles for you?

I would guess that both Chinatown Market and Richwell Market would do the killing for you, though communicating specific requests might be difficult.

Cathy2 wrote:
Yep, the 'tank' for these little turtles was a plastic molded island with a lone green plastic palm tree. They certainly never lasted long in my home.

Ahh, your memory is sharp C2. And that tree looked all the lonlier after my first turtle died. I guess that's what you get for purchasing your pets at Woolworth.

Cathy2 wrote:I remember reading these baby turtles cannot be sold because of disease related issues.

I believe that all pet turtles have the potential to transmit Salmonella to humans. For this reason, we wash our turtle-hands thoroughly. Reading about this risk at a CDC website I see that the sale of turtles smaller than 4" is banned. Somebody slipped an illegal turtle into my home !

DougMose wrote:Does anyone know if a there is a shop in Chinatown that will kill turtles for you?

Doug, I could be mistaken, but I really don't think you want to be so involved in the slaughter of a turtle. If I want a hamburger, I don't haul a cow to the butcher. There are a number of places that sell turtle meat (with and without bone) online. "Locally" I google that Market Fisheries generally carries turtle meat. Of course, to avoid dissapointment, always call ahead.

-ramon

ramon wrote:"Locally" I google that Market Fisheries generally carries turtle meat. Of course, to avoid dissapointment, always call ahead.

Market Fisheries (7129 S State, visible from the Dan Ryan) has a prominent sign advertising turtle meat. Last time I stopped in, about a year ago, they only had frozen turtle and only in 5 pound boxes.

Ann Fisher wrote:

"I had a similar experience at a diner in Delaware. I ordered the "snapper soup", expecting red snapper. Got snapper soup, meaning snapping turtle."

Seriously, are we talking about eating pond/lake turtles? What SORT of turtles are being sold as food? Would you be satisfied with the explanation if you were informed that you were about to consume a "bird" ?

I was under the impression that sea turtles were the stuff of the legendary soup, although someone noted above (sorry, couldn't find the post in the topic review) that they are endangered. I can respect that.

Nevertheless, in Karen Hess' (1997) edition of Mrs. Glasse's, "The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy" (Originally published: 1st American ed. Alexandria, Va.: Cottom & Stewart, 1805; In Facsimile, with Historical Notes by Karen Hesse, Bedford, Mass., Applewood Books) there are two recipes for turtle, the first one being, "To Dress a Turtle the West India Way." (pp. 229-230). The West Indian pedigree leads me to believe that the turtle in question is indeed a sea creature.

But, believe me, to cook it is neither Plain, nor Easy.

Though perhaps, should DougMose be serious about his quest for a turtle slaughterhouse, he should consult this tome for advice on how to deal with the guts, lungs, maw and fins. . . But perhaps the quicker route is to make the "Mock Turtle". The recipe begins, " Take a large calf's head with the skin on. . ." (p. 230).

Realistically, though, if we are talking sea turtle, they are HUGE and just a few would satisfy the world market for turtle meat. Of course, all this anxiety has absolutely no relationship to the the fact that I was traumatized by being forced to ride a sea turtle at the Central Park Zoo at the age of three. To my tender young sensibilities, the turtle seemed an alien life form of the strangest order. And oops! I guess that in applying my three-year-old cognitive capacities it seemed to be the size of a WHALE or a HOUSE!

Which brings me around to the point of this rant, which is to recommend the Roald Dahl story, "ESIO TROT" to all the turtle enthusiasts on the board. It is a tender romance appropriate for children, and adults. Ramonita might well enjoy it.

In any case, given that rabbits are easier to catch. . . what kind of turtle are we potentially eating here, friends?

And another thing:

Sushi Gaijin wrote:

"reptiles are like crack or fried food, you cant have just one. "

So true, so true. That's an LTH banner quote du jour if ever I read one.

Hi,

Sea turtles brought my Opa back to my mind; twice in one evening! I was the star of Show and Tell the day I brought a photo of my Opa butchering a sea turtle. He was in his sixties wearing swim trunks with a knife very industriously working over this turtle.

I don't know if he really killed the turtle or was posing for pictures to entertain the grandchildren. All I know is I have the pictures!

Regards,

Ramon wrote:Doug, I could be mistaken, but I really don't think you want to be so involved in the slaughter of a turtle. If I want a hamburger, I don't haul a cow to the butcher.

Ok, I guess I thought the question was about buying live turtles and having the preparation start in the store, not in the home kitchen. I know of three markets in Chinatown that sell live turtles (Chinatown Market, Richwell Market, and Mayflower Foods). As they have no problem taking apart the (huge) live fish they sell, I would imagine they would have no qualms about offering the same services with respect to their turtles. As to what kind of turtles, I usually see soft shell turtles, similar to these.

Kristen

kl5 wrote:As they have no problem taking apart the (huge) live fish they sell, I would imagine they would have no qualms about offering the same services with respect to their turtles.

I agree, having seen the guys behind the counter dispatch a frog with a quick bop on the head before handing it over to a customer. I'm sure they could do whatever is necessary for a turtle too.

The turtle most often seen in american food is the common snapping turtle, chelydra serpentina.

the turtle most often seen in chinatown is the red-eared slider, trachemys scripta.

neither are of any special concern to conservation. however, sea turtles in the carribean are still popular among locals, both as eggs and live turtles. Despite being protected by the US government, sea turtles and eggs are still taken. the biggest threat to sea turtles is not fishing, it is the development of nesting beaches in the west indies.

China has consumed MOST of its native turtles, and is now importing everyone else's turtles to fill demand. The problem is so big in china, that it has been dubbed the "asian turtle crises" by even relatively conservative researchers. http://nytts.org/asianturtlecrisis.html It's a shame too, some of the turtles that have been eaten to extinction are amazing animals; i know the Cuora genus is very beautiful, and the orlitias as well.

Erik.

There is a relatively large turtle farm in the Cayman Islands that does a nice job of combining turtles for food and conservaton all at the same time.

What do you do with all those turtles?
About 60% of each year's hatchlings are raised to 3 - 4 years of age to be processed for food that is sold locally (a national delicacy). Out of these, 1 to 2% are kept to become future breeders instead of food. The remaining 40% are released into the ocean when they are around one year old. This "headstarting" gives the turtles a better chance of survival.

http://www.turtle.ky/

Ramon wrote:I believe that all pet turtles have the potential to transmit Salmonella to humans. For this reason, we wash our turtle-hands thoroughly. Reading about this risk at a CDC website I see that the sale of turtles smaller than 4" is banned. Somebody slipped an illegal turtle into my home !

Why 4 Inches?
After all, turtles of all sizes can carry Salmonella. 4 inches was chosen with the thought that most young children wouldn't try to put a turtle larger than this in their mouth (of course, putting a turtle in your mouth isn't the only way to be infected with Salmonella). However, restricting turtle sales to those greater than 4 inches probably also helps reduce the incidence of Salmonellosis by reducing turtle sales, since hatchlings are much more irresistible than larger turtles. Also, kids are probably less inclined to play with the larger turtles in the first place. Certainly, the risks of Salmonella are still present with larger turtles, and with any turtle precautions are necessary to prevent Salmonella infections (see "Reptiles and Salmonella" for more information).

From www.exoticpets.about.com/od/reptilestur ... esales.htm

stevez wrote:There is a relatively large turtle farm in the Cayman Islands that does a nice job of combining turtles for food and conservaton all at the same time.

What do you do with all those turtles?
About 60% of each year's hatchlings are raised to 3 - 4 years of age to be processed for food that is sold locally (a national delicacy). Out of these, 1 to 2% are kept to become future breeders instead of food. The remaining 40% are released into the ocean when they are around one year old. This "headstarting" gives the turtles a better chance of survival.

http://www.turtle.ky/

Oh, I went on that turtle farm tour. They start you off walking past the turtle eggs, then past pools of one day old, one week old and one month old turtles. You can hold turtles and take photos. You see very old turtles. They tell you about how the turtle population around the Caymans had been almost wiped out before the farm started its conservation efforts, and now turtles are thriving in the local waters. By the time you're done with the tour, you've seen literally thousands of turtles at the turtle farm.

Then you walk into the gift shop/snack bar, and the first thing on the menu is a turtle sandwich.

(They really downplayed the "food" element on the turtle farm tour, so it came as a shock to my friends and me.)

chgoeditor wrote:Then you walk into the gift shop/snack bar, and the first thing on the menu is a turtle sandwich.

(They really downplayed the "food" element on the turtle farm tour, so it came as a shock to my friends and me.)

chgoeditor, you don't say whether you had that sandwich . . . I can imagine simultaneously feeling horror and insurmountable curiousity at this sequence of events. Sorry if my question is intrusive, but I love this thread, and I would love to know why you decided to eat or not to eat that turtle sandwich.

Josephine wrote:

chgoeditor wrote:Then you walk into the gift shop/snack bar, and the first thing on the menu is a turtle sandwich.

(They really downplayed the "food" element on the turtle farm tour, so it came as a shock to my friends and me.)

chgoeditor, you don't say whether you had that sandwich . . . I can imagine simultaneously feeling horror and insurmountable curiousity at this sequence of events. Sorry if my question is intrusive, but I love this thread, and I would love to know why you decided to eat or not to eat that turtle sandwich.

I didn't have the sandwich, nor did any of my three other friends. I'll admit that while I consider myself an adventurous eater, I have a hard time separating "pets" from food on the table. I've owned rabbits, so I don't eat rabbit. I've owned horses, so I'd never eat horse. We had box turtles in the back yard while I , so the visit to the Turtle Farm wasn't my first up-close experience with turtles, and I feel a little squeemish about eating them, particularly minutes after holding them. (That said, I have had snapper soup...the distance from turtle to soup made it easier to eat.)

Alas, as reported in another thread, beloved Morsel, I mean Chiquita, crossed over. The ever bickering couple, Yertle and Gizmo, continues to thrive.

In light of the recent news story regarding a local woman who discovered the image of The Virgin on the carapace of her pet turtle, I examined our amphibious companions with an exploitive eye. Too bad … no religious icons, not even an Iron Chef.

If I can’t eat my pet, can’t I at least sell it for an outrageous sum to some gambling web site? Perhaps you see something in the belly of Yertle?




-ramon

Ramon wrote: Perhaps you see something in the belly of Yertle?
-ramon

Ramon, I think there might be an angle there, but it has long since been exploited by Hermann Rorschach. In fact, the bottom sections look a bit like Card V -- the bat or butterfly card.

Ramon wrote:Perhaps you see something in the belly of Yertle?

Ramon,

Footprint, Elvis, oh my goodness!! I'll start the bidding at $85.

Enjoy,
Gary

Excellent newspaper article printed yesterday regarding turtle "immortality':

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/12/ ... urtles.php

-ramon

Ramon wrote:In light of the recent news story regarding a local woman who discovered the image of The Virgin on the carapace of her pet turtle, I examined our amphibious companions with an exploitive eye. Too bad … no religious icons, not even an Iron Chef.




-ramon

Well, I suggest you look again...that is the plastron and not the carapace. I think EBAY may be the next step.

Erik.

-ramon