Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-22
HUMBUG ABOUT TERRAPIN.
Preparing the Dish Not a Difficult Art
According to n Caterer.

From the New York Sun.
There is a good deal Of polite humbug
about terrapin stew" said a caterer. The
Maryland style Is generally accepted as
the best way in which the dish should be
eaten, but. as a matter Of fact, there is so
little difference between that style and the
Philadelphia style that no one can tell the
difference by the taste of 1t, and, further,
the Virginia style of preparing terrapin, as
followed by the Incompatible negro man.
my cooks of the old dominion, is the only
true way to cook ii, and by far the SIM
plest. The cooking of terrapin seems to be
natural gift with the Virginia negress.
1t is an art that the professional cook has
to acquire.
rapin in the approved Maryland style is
quite tedious proceeding, and the person
who does 1t never fails to impress you with
the fact that he believes, or thinks he be-
lieves that he u.s. and of necessity must be-
a being of exceptional accomplishments as
a culinary artist; but If you are not sus-
ceptible to the glamor which tradition has
cast around the terrapin cook, you can do
the business just exactly as well yourself
You will never be able to get a recipe for
cooking a terrapin from any of these
glOrified concoctorS OF a stew. They Will
always give you wise shake of the head
and declare that such thing would be
impossible, save as to the mode in a gen.
eral way, because they have certain arts
tic secrets about making terrapin stew
which they cannot impart to any one, the
same, of course, being n very excellent
quality of rot. The preparing of q terra
pin depends more upon the knowledge of
how to treat it anatomically than on any
artistic touch.
"A terrapin that has been caught after IT
has gone into it's winter quarters does not
need to be cleaned before it is cooked
There is no food in its stomach, and its
interior is clean it can be made. In
the Maryland or Philadelphia way of pre-
pairing terrapin it is thrown alive into n
pot of hot water. This is cruel enough, but
1t is humanity compared with the way the
terrapin is treated in the old Virginia
style. In beginning Its preparation in this
style the unfortunate reptile is thrust alive
among hot Goals or shut In a very hot
oven, and left there until 1T is cooked.
When this result is reached the under
shell of the terrapin is easily removed with
a knife, exposing the: meat resting i'll the
natural dish formed by the upper shell.
Nothing but the gall sack is removed, and,
with the addition of butter, seasoning and
glass of sherry or Madeira wine, the
terrapin is eaten from the she'll But 1T
is not terrapin stew.
after the terrapin is cast into the ket-
tie of hot water, as in the Maryland and
Philadelphia styles, 1t is left there until 1t
is dead. 1t is then taken out, and the up
per shell removed Tho :errapin Is return
ed to the hot water, left a short time, re-
moved and its under shell taken off. Now
comes a very delicate operation, and the
one on which failure or success depends.
This is the removal of the liver and the
gall sack. If so much of the gall as would
cover the point of pin should remain it
would faint the entire stew, and make the
eating of 1T an lmpossibility. This neces-
sary dissection done, the meat Is put back
into the kettle and stewed until 1t is ready
for the final touch. This is the addition Of
the very finest butter, the yolkS of raw
eggs, the whites Of hard-boiled eggs, thick
cream and spices. The addition of sherry
or Madeira must ne made only a very short
time before the stew Is served. or the eff
feet of that flavor will be lost, the vino
evaporating quickly"