The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-12-04
TERRAPIN TALK.
A Food Dainty Worth Almost Ita
Weight in Gold.
Most Expensive Kind Caught IN
Chesapeake Bay.

as expert angler m tho waters oi
Chesapeake Bay, for the diamond
backed torrapin is an ariatocratio dem
izen Of those waters aud worth almost
his weight in gold to the epicuro OF
the fashionable cafe. This value set
upon the terrapin prevents tho edible
reptile from becoming food for the
masses, his scarcity enhancing bis
worth and making him a more tooth
some tid-bit for the eunuied digestion
Of the professional dinoroui.
The diamond-back terrapin is only
another name for a small species OF
turtle, aud time was when the colored
people Of Maryland ate them after
roasting them in their shells, and
never dreamed Of their value as food
for a royal menu. Now a terrapin-
farm is a mine OF wealth to It's pos
SCISSOR A true story is told Of
poor negro fisherman who CHANGED
upon a nest of diamond-backs near
Tangier Island in 1898. In four hours
be took out twelve hundred dollars
worth aud stopped only when too ex-
hausted to work.
Terrapins 'in pound present an in
teresting but by no means an appetite
ing appearance Tho pound is
place where tho fishermen keep the
turtles until they are shipped to some
city to the markets. There is pre-
iudice in the minds Of the dealers
against pound terrapin as losing some
of their delicacy when kept from salt
water, but only an epicure could dis
tinguish a difference. The farms
where they are cultivated are flooded
with sea water, 50 that the little OBJ
ject preserves its delicatessen quail
ties unimpaired.
There are certain rules understood
by those who purchase terrapin. They
are careful to observe that the extreme
tip or muzzle of the head is not in
iured, that the. bottom of the feet are
not worn off, that the head is prettily
shaped-small, thin aud pointed, and
the eyes brilliant. The feet should be
small and slender. Those who have
seen these same diamond-backs crawl
ing over each other in the windows OF
fish stores did not perhaps appreciate
their great worth.
Cooking terrapin properly is such
IN art that only chef or a Mary
lander should be permitted to give in.
structions. 1t is rather hard on the
epicure to be told that unless the
small bones of the terrapin are left il
he will not know whether he is eating
the genuine article or not. But it il
absolutely true that the only peopl,
who can cook it as it demands are tn,
Maryland cooks who learned from tn,
colored people, and their secret o
success is to handle it as little as pos
sible, and TO serve it from the dish il
/, which it was cooked, thus preserving
its native juices and aromas.
On the terrapin farms of the Chesa
peake peculiar sport is INDUCED il
: by the men, called "terrapin racing.
The turtles are let loose in larg
, room, where at one end hot fire j
blazing, protected by guard. The
all begin a scramble for the light an
warmth, the men betting on particula
: ones. They have no continuity c
> purpose, and are likely to branch o
: in dozen devious routes, but th
s terrapin that first puts its nose againl
: the fire guard wins the race.
Terrapin are rated according I
Q their value with family pedigree tae
o which simply gives the name of tn
. state whence they come, First on til
list for its terrapin is Chesapeake Ba.
Next comes Long Island. Then Vii
s ginia, Charleston and Savannah
. Florida, Mobile and the gulf follow
, Mississippi and North Carolina an
t other points south furnish excellel
terrapin.
r Eighty dollars a dozen is not CO.
d sidered high for choice terrapin
# certain seasons and on special occ
d sions. A modest housekeeper saw OIL
crawling over some Holsters in a Fl
market, and out Of curiosity inquir,