Turtle soup
Turtle soup ( English turtle soup , French claire de tortue ) is one of the soups of classic cuisine. It is a clear broth made from the meat of the green turtle as well as beef and calf's foot , which is seasoned with a special blend of herbs called turtle herbs and usually refined with sherry or Madeira . The turtle meat is added finely diced before serving.
History and variants
Invented in Britain in the 18th century , turtle soup has a dark amber color, a very aromatic smell and a special, piquant taste. It soon gained the reputation of being the “queen of soups”, certainly also because of the ingredients that are sometimes exotic for Europeans. Later it was also offered in tins as a delicatessen .
The Lady Curzon variant (named after Mary Victoria Curzon ) is covered with whipped cream , seasoned with curry and briefly gratinated . Sir James turtle soup is flavored with cognac and Madeira. The classic version with sterlet ( claire de tortue au sterlet ) contains an insert made of strips of sterlet meat , sterlet dumplings and eel rod liver .
As early as the end of the 19th century, however, the green turtle was threatened with extinction due to the popularity of turtle soup and other dishes made from turtle meat, which initially only helped the soup to become more exclusive. Since 1988, however, the green turtle has been under international protection under the Washington Convention on Endangered Species - since then, turtle soup has no longer been legally available.
The world's largest manufacturer of turtle soup after the Second World War was the company Eugen Lacroix in Frankfurt-Niederrad . In 1959 250 tons of turtles were processed there. After the company was taken over by the Campbell Soup Company in 1979, the manufacture of turtle soup was given up in 1984. The Lacroix plant in Frankfurt was closed on July 27, 1996.
In 2002 a soup made from unprotected turtle species was briefly offered for sale in Germany, after protests by animal rights activists (and because there was no significant demand) the seller withdrew the product from the market.
Turtle soup was traditionally served in small porcelain cups , often painted with turtles. Such cups can still be found occasionally on the antique market today .
Mockturtle soup
Originally designed as a cheap replacement for turtle soup thought has been around since the mid-18th century, the Mockturtlesuppe (English mock turtle soup , "fake turtle soup"), for which - in otherwise almost identical preparation - rather than turtle meat veal from the head, sometimes also Beef is used. Due to the personal union between the kingdoms of Great Britain and Hanover from 1714 to 1837 , the mockturtle soup became part of the regional cuisine of Lower Saxony .
The soup is also available in cans in butcher shops and food markets.
literature
- Renate Kissel, Harald Polenz: Lower Saxony. Culinary forays. With over 80 recipes. Sigloch edition, Künzelsau 1999, ISBN 3-89393-180-5 .
- Johann Rottenhöfer : New complete theoretical-practical instruction in the fine art of cooking with special consideration of the stately and middle-class cuisine. 9th edition. Braun u. Schneider, Munich 1904.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Martin Paetsch: Species protection: The turtle soup is back. In: Spiegel Online - spiegel.de. February 27, 2002, accessed December 24, 2018 .
- ↑ Gabi Werner: Duchess wants to bring silverware to the people. In: Merkur.de. Münchener Zeitungs-Verlag, September 5, 2014, accessed on December 24, 2018 .