Turtle soup
Photo: Chensiyuan. · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Turtle soup arrived in New Orleans via French Creole cookery and the city's plentiful Louisiana snapping turtles in the 19th century. Antoine's listed it on the 1840 menu; Commander's Palace has served it since opening in 1893 and it remains the Brennan family flagship dish. The dish became scarce in the 1980s when the snapping turtle was federally restricted; today's restaurants source farmed alligator-snapping turtle from Louisiana suppliers or use a turtle-and-veal blend. The tableside sherry pour from a small carafe is now a Creole-dining-room ritual; Arnaud's and Brigtsen's both keep it as a signature soup.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg

Make it at home

Yield 6Hands-on 45 minTotal 3 hr 30 minDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 1 lb (450g) turtle meat (farmed snapping turtle, or substitute a 50/50 mix of veal shoulder and dark chicken thigh; the texture is the closest match)
  • 2 oz (60g) unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup (40g) plain flour
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 (400g) tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 6 cups (1.5L) veal or beef stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 2 lemons, juice of both, plus 1 sliced for garnish
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) dry sherry, plus extra to serve
  • Hot sauce, salt and black pepper, to taste

Method

  1. Dice the turtle meat (or substitute) into 1cm cubes. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Melt the butter in a heavy pot over medium-high. Add the meat; brown hard for 8 to 10 minutes, in batches if needed, scraping up any sticky fond.
  3. Lift the meat out with a slotted spoon. Reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle the flour into the buttery fat; stir constantly for 8 to 10 minutes to make a peanut-butter-coloured roux.
  4. Add onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic; cook 6 to 8 minutes until soft and just colouring.
  5. Stir in tomato paste; cook 2 minutes. Add tinned tomatoes; cook 5 minutes.
  6. Pour in the stock, return the meat to the pot, add bay leaves, thyme, cloves and allspice.
  7. Simmer uncovered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally; the broth should be deep mahogany and the meat fork-tender.
  8. Stir in the lemon juice, chopped hard-boiled eggs, parsley and sherry in the last 5 minutes.
  9. Taste; correct with salt, pepper and several dashes of hot sauce.
  10. Ladle into warm bowls. Pass a small carafe of sherry at the table; each diner pours a teaspoon over their own bowl.

Tip from the editors. No turtle? A 50/50 veal-shoulder and chicken-thigh blend gives closest texture and dark broth. Do not skip the chopped hard-boiled egg; it is Creole signature.

Where to eat turtle soup

Turtle soup in New Orleans

Commander's Palace ★ 4.8

$$ $50 to $90BrunchJazz brunch

Commander's Palace in New Orleans is the Garden District grande dame on Washington Avenue, with the canonical New Orleans Sunday jazz brunch.

OrderTurtle soup with sherry, then eggs Sardou.

TipThe 25-cent martini (3 max) is the brunch tradition; jacket suggested for the men in the upstairs Garden Room.

Directions

Arnaud's ★ 4.4

$$$$ Tasting $70 to $110 a la carteFrench regionalChef Tommy DiGiovanni

Arnaud's in New Orleans is the 1918 French Creole room on Bienville from Arnaud Cazenave, with mosaic-tile floors, the French 75 Bar next door and a costume.

Book1 to 2 weeks ahead

Directions Book

Brigtsen's ★ 4.6

$$$$ Tasting $50 to $85 a la carteCajun & CreoleChef Frank Brigtsen

Brigtsen's in New Orleans is Frank and Marna Brigtsen's 1986 Victorian-cottage Creole Acadian room near the streetcar terminus, a Paul Prudhomme alumnus.

Book1 to 2 weeks ahead

Directions Book

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