Mock turtle soup is an English soup that was created in the mid-18th century as an imitation of green turtle soup. It often uses brains and organ meats such as calf's head to duplicate the texture and flavour of the original's turtle meat after the green turtles used to make the original dish were hunted nearly to extinction. In the United States, mock turtle soup eventually became more popular than the original dish and is still popular in Cincinnati. The soup is also a traditional dish in the Lower Saxony areas of Germany, where it is considered a speciality of English cuisine.

History

Calf's head soups were known in England before importation of turtles began.

The soup was created in response to overhunting to near extinction of the turtles needed for the original dish. Turtle soup was known as early as the 1720s after sailors returning from the West Indies brought several green turtles home with them and was popular by the mid-18th century. By the late 19th century, commercial brands of canned mock turtle soup were available and advertising, ironically, warned consumers to "Beware of Imitations". The 1845 Modern Cookery for Private Families provides a recipe for an "old-fashioned" mock turtle soup.

</blockquote>Heston Blumenthal's updated version calls for beef bones and oxtail and is seasoned with star anise and red wine.

England

Serving turtle soup in the 18th century was a display of wealth.

United States

While green sea turtle was popular for soup making in many countries, U.S. recipes included many other local species. Soup made from snapping turtles is still available in certain parts of the country. Similarly, mock turtle soup recipes have a variety of substitute meats. Besides organ meats like the British recipes, recipes in the U.S. often use stewing beef or ground beef, but may call for alligator. Versions were served at Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration, at the Waldorf-Astoria, the St. Regis and the Plaza. A recipe for it appeared in the 1887 White House Cook Book.

The dish is still popular in Cincinnati, where butcher Phil Houck's version was so popular among customers that he stopped cutting meat and pivoted to production of the soup, founding in 1920 the brand Worthmore. Worthmore was the only remaining commercial brand of mock turtle soup, closing in 2014. In the early 1900s the soup was commonly served as a free lunch in the German saloons of Over-the-Rhine for customers purchasing beer and in 1980 it was still served in many restaurants in Over-the-Rhine and on Cincinnati's West Side. As of 2021 it was still seen on local menus and at butcher shops, festivals, and sporting events.

Campbell Soup Company once produced canned condensed version made of calf's head but discontinued it before 1960. In a 1962 interview with David Bourdon, Andy Warhol, commenting on Campbell's discontinued soups, said that Mock Turtle had once been his favorite.

alt=Line drawing of a turtle with the face, back hooves, and tail of a calf|thumb|238x238px|Mock Turtle

Lewis Carroll included a character, Mock Turtle, in his 1865 children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The character had the body and front flippers of a turtle with the head, tail, and back hooves of a calf.

In the sixth episode of the seventh season of Are You Being Served?, the characters from the menswear and ladies department take over the canteen after the canteen staff walk out following complaints. They serve mock turtle soup (among other dishes). Young Mr Grace, the store owner, orders the soup and finds a frog in his.

See also

  • List of soups

References

  • Recipe at CDKitchen.com

de:Schildkrötensuppe#Mockturtlesuppe