The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-01-11
HUMBUG ABOUT TERRAPIN.
Preparing the Dish Not a Difficult Art
According to u Caterer.

Preparing the Dish Not a Difficult Art
According to u Caterer.
'"There is good deal of polite hum
bug about terrapin Stew said ca
terer to New York Sun man. ''The
Maryland style is generally accepted
as the best way in which the dish
should be eater, but, as 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 pre-
pairing terrapin, as followed by the in
comparable negro nanny cooks of the
Old 'Dominion; is the only true way to
cook 1t. and by far the simplest The
cooking OF terrapin seems to be natural
gift with the Virginia negress. It is an
art that the professional cook has to ac-
quire.
The preparing for the table of ter
rapin i'll the approved Maryland style is
quite a tedious proceeding, and the per-
son who does it never fails to impress YOU
with the fact that he believes, or thinks
he believes, that he is and of necessity
must be a being of exceptional accom-
pishments as q culinary. artist; but if you
are not susceptible to the glamour which
tradition has cast around the terrapin
" as well yourself. You will never be
able to get recipe for cooking terrapin
from any of these glorified concoctors of
stew. They will always give you a
wise shake of the head and declare that
such thing would be impossible, save as
they have certain artistic secrets about
making terrapin stew which they cannot
impart to anyone, the same, of course, be-
ing a very excellent qualitzssf. rot The
preparing of a terrapin depends more upon
the knowledge of how to treat it anatom-
ically than on any artistic touch.
"a terrapin that has been caught after
it he's gone into it's winter quarters does
not need to be cleaned before it is cooked.
There is no food in it's stomach. and it's
interior is as clean as it can be made. In
the Maryland or Philadelphia way of pre-
pairing terrapin, it is thro wn alive into
pot of hot water. This is cruel enough,
the terrapin is treated in the old Virginia
style. In beginning it's preparation in this
style, the unfortunate reptile is thrust
alive among hot Goals or shut in very
hot oven, and left there until cooked.
When this result is reached the under
shell of the terrapin is easily removed
with knife. exposing the meat resting
shell. Nothing but the gall sack is re-
moved. and, with the addition of butter,
seasoning and glass of sherry or Ma
diera wine, the terrapin is eaten from the
shell. But it is not terrapln stew.
after the terrapin is cast into. the ket-
tie of hot water, as nthe Maryland and
Philadelphia styles, it is left there until
it is dead. 1t is then taken out and the
upper shell removed. The terrapin is
returned to the hot water, left short
time removed and its under shell taken
off, Now comes very delicate operation
and the one on which failure or success
depends. This is the removal of the liver
l., .1r H.
as would cover the point of pin should
remain it would faint the entire stew,
and make the eating of it an impossiblity.
This necessary dissection done, the meat
is put back into the kettle and stewed
until it 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 be
made only very short time before the
stew is served or. the effect of that flavor
will be lost, the wine evaporating quick