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Turtle

The turtle, or sea tortoise, is found in most of the seas of warm climates. The green turtle is the variety used for making the celebrated turtle soup which forms such a noted feature of municipal feasts, hundreds of quarts being served every year at the Lord Mayor's dinner. This soup is so expensive, and also so difficult to prepare, that it is seldom made in private houses; if it is wanted, it is bought readymade, the cost being a guinea a quart. The turtles from which soup is made in England are sent alive from the West Indies. They vary in weight from thirty pounds to one hundred and fifty pounds, and in price from 1s. to 2s. per pound, according to the state of the market. Many cooks use the tinned turtle instead of the live turtle. The most convenient way of making a small quantity of turtle soup is to use dried turtle, which may be bought of any respectable Italian warehouseman, at a cost of about 10s. per pound. (See TURTLE SOUP, FROM DRIED TURTLE FLESH.)