The Penn's Grove record., 1884-01-19
The Mystery of Turtle Soup.

DlOCk winch Is dIJhCHeu 70 one u Tie
kitchen pillars. Sawdust is sprinkled
thickly below, and when a large order is
received the floor is blood-stained as
Blue Boards chamber. The manager
politely offered to show me the whole
process-from execution to copper.
Suppose the turtle dangling in mid-air
The butcher sharpens his knife, and in
a half. a-dozen seconds has severed the
head from the body, the blood dyeing
the fresh sawdust a crimson hue The
head is thrown on to the table, and was
jumping about like a frog long after the
rest of him was in the pot. The fins
are then cut off, scalded in order to re-
move the scale, cut up, and boiled sepa-
rately, as they do not require so long to
cook as the other parts of the body
With steady aim and unerTing eye the
butcher runs his knife round the outer
rim of the turtles belly, and by this
means separtes the shell. The entrails-
and a turtle seems to consist chiefly of
~entrails and shell-aTe then taken ont.
The pigs at Messrs. Painters farm in
Essex have all the offal sent to them
and the turtle-fed swine are said to be
the finest in the county. The back,
the shell of which is ofteu half an inOh
in thickness, is then taken off. Both
back and belly shells are then scalded
with steaming hot water, and the scale
peels off readily enough after a few
minutes soaking, leaving a framework
of bone. What is known as the calipee
is the white portion of the flesh which
comes from the belly the calipash is
black in color, and is taken from the
back. Only about a quart of the IA
nous green fat is found in a dozen tur-
ties. 1t is only present at certain sea-
sons of the year, and is found in the
turtles flank. This will of course, ac-
count for th3 long price which is asked
for the delicacy by the dealers. The
back and belly are then chopped up
criss-cross fashion and placed in n of
the stew-pans, where they boil gently
for about three hours. Besides this,
what is known as the chicken meat, re-
sembling veal In color, is also added.
We have now the fins boiling separately
in one pan, and the back and belly
simmering in another. Both are taken
off the fire, steamed, and both are
placed in the same stewpOt. MaTjoram,
thyme, parsley, and sometimes onions,
are added to this stock, which is now
allowed to boil for some eve hours
more. The liquid is then strained off,
filtered clarified, and put into shallow
pans to cool. The green fat is of course
dealt with separately and is sold alone.
The chicken meat is allowed to get cold
and it then can be stamped into dainty
outlets. The fins are also served in a
separate dish. This is the process of
manufacture. No evidence of conger
cells or of any foreign body is to be
found. The invalid soup is the abSO-
utely pure, and differs from the other
only in the absence of herbs of any
Ort.
In view of the controversy which is
now going on lit may be as well to
point out that Sir Henry ThempsOn's
contention is that conger eel forms the
best stock for the soup, and he by no
means accuses the purveyors of selling
an adulterated a~rticle), we have given
this short description of u visit
which may prove interesting. The tur-
ties used by Messrs, Painter come from
the West Indian Islands by the mai
steamers, being collected and forwarded
to London by their agents at Southamp-
ton. The turtle is of course found off
the coast of America. Africa, aud India
but the voy age from the West Indies
proves long enough. They are placed
down below when on board ship, getting
now and then an occasional bath and a
little food. On arrival in England
they are covered with straw, and placed
in the ordinary railway van, in which
they travel comfortably enough. The
voyage is not always accomplished so
pleasantly. A correspondent who has
ately arrived from the West Indies says
he had forty six turtles as fellow-passen
gers on the steamer. He adds a new
feature to the controversy :-''Frequent-
ly,n he writes, ''turtles die on the YOy
age, and when not too far from the des-
tination Of the steamer their Threats are
cut. They are then left to hang in a
cool place until the vessel is about to
enter the port, when some blood from
the last killed pig or sheep is daubed on
the neck to give the appearance of re-
cent killing, when half price is paid for
the meat" This statement IS perhaps
a slight exaggeration. Judging" he
adds, from ''the prices realized for turtle
when l vas in Liyerpool-6d. and Cd.
a pound on the landing alive, or half
the price when dead should imagine
that purveyors could afford to indulge
their patrons with the real stuff" The
price which Messrs. Painter charge at
present is Is. 81. per ound for live tur-
NiO' vi IuC SlCCll ldt WV SdlllCdo Il
quart is charged, for thick turtle 2ls.,
invalid's soup ID, and for clear turtle
25s. The high prices may be- accounted
for by the small proportion of mea
which is found on the turtles when
compared with its weight, so per cent.
being the average amount of waste
Then turtle vary much in the quantity
of meat they supply. Eor instance, a
a turtle weighing 300 pounds would
not be as valuable as one weigh
ing 120 pounds. As a turtle gets
older a process of ossificatian sets in,
and what in a turtle of 60 pounds would
be calipash and calipee, in a turtle of
300 pounds would have become bone.
1t is a curious fact worth noticing that
the import of dried turtle is increasing