Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1886-09-18
THE TERRAPIN.
AN EDIBLE REPTILE BELOVED
BY THE EPICURE.
A Maryland Member of Congress the
First Terrapin Eater-How
the Terrapin is Turned
Into Food.

AAO LurJlc lumeuldLe IelbblVeS dTc Juc
land tortoise and the terrapin. The tor
toise was highly respected by the an
clients, and is mentioned by Pliny the
younger as reptile "of calm and i'm
posing demeanor, and wise, inasmuch as
he avoideth hasto.'
The identity of man who first ate an
oyster is buried in obscurity. Attempts
have been made by many learned anti
quatians to discover that daring indivi-
dual, but in vain. At one time, about
the beginning of this century, a musty
old searcher into the records OF the past
declared that Celtic knight, Sir Mora
Mora Gan, who was the possessor of a
massive stronghold on the western shores,
was the first oyster eater, but he failed
dismally in the presence Of delegates
from seventeen learned societies to estab-
fish his claim to the alleged discovery,
But the names of those who took the
initial plunge in the terrapin business are
well-known and honored in Maryland,
where the terrapin is, of all things in
animated nature, most honored and
loved. Daniel St. George Tenifer, mem
Der of Congress from Maryland, and
afterward Minister to Austria, and
John B. Morris, President of the Me-
chanics' Bank of Baltimore, were the
heroes who ate the first terrapin that civ
ilized man ever ate. Morris died in 1875, at
the age of ninety, and Tenifer was almost
as old when called away from this world,
the good things of which, chiefly terra
pin, he had heartily enjoyed. Mr.. Teni-
fer argued that if the turtle, whose
habits SO closely resembled the terrapin,
was edible, there was no reason why the
terrapin should not be equally good. So
soon as this valuable culinary discovery
was announced, all the epicures of Balti-
more clamored for terrapin. From 1S45
to 1850 terrapin sold in Baltimore at
from 50 to 50 per dozen. In 1860 they
commanded $25 a dozen, and after the
war the dealers asked $50 and $40 a
dozen, and got il, too.
The best terrapin are the diamond
back. These como from the eastern
shores of Chesapeake Bay, and are affec-
tionately known as eastern shore pull
let's" A full grown specimen is from
nine to ten inches in length. The best
season for eating them is in November,
when they are taken by drags from the
mud in which they hibernate. The ex-
cellent quality of these terrapin, which
are much finer than any in this State, is
attributed to the fact that they lie at the
edge of tide water, and are alternately
washed by the fresh and salt water DUR
ing the twenty -four hours.
The female tcrrapin, when carrying
eggs, as she does in the winter season, is
the most highly esteemed. The male
terrapin is set down as tough fellow,
and no true epicure will have him in his
stew. In the cooking, the intestines,
which, as the reptile is alternating, are
empty, are cut up with the other por-
tons and are said to impart very supe-
rior favor. The Baltimoreans differ
from the Californians in preparing this
delicious dish. They cook their terra
pin altogether without spice, except
pepper and salt, using only butter rolled
in -four to thicken 1t. and flavor it with
old Madeira instead OF sherry. The
gourmets of the old days kept what they
called the terrapin bottle. Into this,
when the Madeira was decanted, the
lees were poured, which are considered
better for the terrapin stew than the
clear wine. 1t was only after the failure
of the Madeira wine crop that Baltimore
gentlemen used sherry in their terrapin.
n preparing terrapin for the stew pot
care is taken that the gall is extracted,
else the dish becomes a nauseating fail
ure. They are plunged alive into boil
ing water, and when the claws pull out
easily, they are done and ready to be
picked for the stewpan. The cultiva
ton of terrapin is quite an important in
dustry in this portion of the South, and
one gentleman last year cleared over
81, 600 from his terrapin farm.
Terrapin are very numerous in this
State, but their consumption is not at all
as general as in the Eastern and South
ern sections of the country. A few cpl
cures enjoy them, but it is not easy to
find a cook who thoroughly understands
their preparation. They make the stews
too thin, and so smother them with spice
that the true, delicate flavor of the terra
pin is completely sacrificed. Indeed, a
cook of ordinary skill can make an imi.
tation of terrapin with soup meat very
close to the real thing as presented here,
being spiced beyond recognition. In
those large ponds and sloughs made by
the overflow Of the Sacramento River