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Soup

Turtle Soup

A rich soup made from turtle meat, shell parts and fins, simmered with veal stock, herbs, spices and Madeira.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 23 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Turtle Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the turtle

  1. Hang the turtle by the hind fins, cut off the head, and allow it to drain.

  2. Cut off the fore fins and separate the upper shell (callipash) from the lower shell (callipee).

  3. Remove the fat from the callipash and callipee, then cut off the hind fins.

  4. Take the lean meat from the callipee and fins, cut it into 2-inch square pieces, and place in a stewpan.

  5. Scald the callipash, callipee, and fins in hot water for a few minutes to separate the shell easily.

  6. Cut the callipash and callipee into 6-inch square pieces and place in a stock pot with light veal stock.

  7. Boil until the meat is tender, then remove and place in cold water to cool.

  8. Free the meat from the bones and cut into 1-inch square pieces.

  9. Return the bones to the stock and boil gently for 2 hours, then strain.

  10. Cut the fins into 1-inch wide pieces and boil in stock with onion, cloves, parsley, thyme, sweet basil, and marjoram until tender.

  11. Remove the fins and add the stock to the main stock.

Season and finish

  1. In a stewpan, combine the lean meat with 1 pint of Madeira, chopped shallots, sliced lemons, thyme, marjoram, savory, sweet basil, and parsley.

  2. Pound together nutmeg, allspice, mace, cloves, pepper, and salt, then mix with the other ingredients and add curry powder to taste.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Basil + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  3. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Thyme + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Turtle
Provides the main meat and gelatinous body, which becomes tender and rich after long simmering.
Madeira
Adds sweetness and depth of flavour to the meat and broth.
Lemons
Add acidity that brightens the rich meat and stock.
Light veal stock
Forms the cooking liquid and body of the soup.

The step that matters

Boiling the shell pieces until tender. Undercooked shell pieces stay tough, while overcooking makes the meat fall apart. Gentle simmering gently softens the connective tissue and gelatin without breaking the meat down.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, clove, parsley, thyme, basil, marjoram, shallot):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, clove, parsley, thyme, basil, marjoram, shallot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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