Mock Turtle Soup

Ingredients

• a calf's head
• eight or nine quarts of spring water
• three pounds of fillet of veal
• three pounds of leg of beef
• three pounds of delicate pickled pork
• four large onions
• three heads of celery
• a large bunch of savory herbs
• two bay-leaves
• four ounces of butter
• seasoning of cayenne and mace
• half a pint of sherry

Method

1. 1

   Clean and blanch the calf's head, simmer in water for two hours.

2. 2

   Add veal, beef, pork, ham, onions, celery, and herbs, and simmer for three hours.

3. 3

   Strain the stock, add seasoning, thicken with butter and flour, and add sherry before serving.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Cassell's dictionary of cookery (1892) by Cassell & Company, page 933. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Mock Turtle Soup. — This is the staple soup of English life, to be met with in most of the dining-rooms and hotels, not only in London, but almost everywhere in Great Britain. As its name implies, it is an imitation of turtle soup, introduced to us by our navi- gators about one hundred years since. The esswitial point iu mock turtle, must, therefore, be the "lumpy delight" furnished by calf's head ; and the choice of the head should be a matter of some importance. It should be large, firm, and fat, full of brain, with good tongue and cheeks. As the preparation of this soup is a labour of love, and will occupy time, our recipe %vill rim in the order of arrangement. First, clean and blanch a calf's head, -with the skin on. Take out the brains, and put the head into eight or nine quarts of spring water. Bring it gently to a boU, skim frequently, and keep it simmering a couple of hours, by which time it should be sufficiently done to remove the bones easily. Second, retui-n the bones to the pot, and add three pounds of fillet of veal, throe pounds of leg of beef, cut into an inch and a half square pieces, thi-ee pounds of deli- cate pickled pork, also cut into small pieces, three or four slices of good soimd old ham for flavouring, four large onions, sliced, three heads of celery, a large bunch of savoui-y herbs, pai'sley, a few leaves of green basil, lemon thyme, marjoram, two bay-leaves, and stew gently, with good careful skimming, three full hours, adding stock to keep up the required quantity of soup. Third, while the stock is boiling, cut from the head the skin and fat that adheres to it into nice sizable pieces, and cut the tongue into cubes of an inch square, the fleshy parts of the head into diamonds, dice, or any other shape. Make brain balls, or any other forcemeat, or egg balls. Fourth, when the stock has been sufficiently boiled, strain it from the bones, &c. (retaining only rich bits of meat), into a large clean stewpan ; add the skin, tongue, &c., and a seasoning of cayenne and mace, Harvey's sauce, mushi-oom ketchup, or any other seasoning that may be desirable. Thicken with four ounces of butter, kneaded in as much brown flour, and simmer gently for an horn-, if the calf's head, &c., require it; but twenty minutes before serving, add half a pint of sherry

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.