Mock Turtle Soup
A deep, full-bodied potage based on calf's head long simmered, flavored with mace, lemon zest and a dash of Madeira. It contains small forcemeat balls and tender diced meat: the gourmet illusion of turtle soup, without the turtle.
A deep, full-bodied potage based on calf's head long simmered, flavored with mace, lemon zest and a dash of Madeira. It contains small forcemeat balls and tender diced meat: the gourmet illusion of turtle soup, without the turtle.
You may know: real turtle costs a fortune and only graces the tables of nabobs. So, as a man of calculation, I have always preferred the ingenious counterfeit — this mock turtle where the humble calf's head mimics the beast's flesh to perfection. It is boiled for hours, perfumed with a little mace and a drop of Madeira, and those small forcemeat balls my cook shapes by hand. My guests, I assure you, are never fooled — and the conversation is all the better for it.
- •Half a calf's head — one (gelatinous base and meat)
- •Beef shin or leg — one piece (rich broth)
- •Onions, carrots, celery — a few (aromatics)
- •Mace and cloves — a pinch (signature spices)
- •Lemon zest and juice — one lemon (acidity)
- •Madeira or Sherry — a glass (aromatic binding)
- •Flour and butter — for the roux (thickener)
Mock Turtle Soup
A deep, full-bodied potage based on calf's head long simmered, flavored with mace, lemon zest and a dash of Madeira. It contains small forcemeat balls and tender diced meat: the gourmet illusion of turtle soup, without the turtle.
Why this dish? Babbage held famous soirées at Dorset Street, gathering London's scientific and literary elite. Mock turtle soup, a sumptuous soup imitating the expensive green turtle soup of grand dinners, was THE prestige potage of Victorian receptions — exactly what was served at a spirited table like his.
You may know: real turtle costs a fortune and only graces the tables of nabobs. So, as a man of calculation, I have always preferred the ingenious counterfeit — this mock turtle where the humble calf's head mimics the beast's flesh to perfection. It is boiled for hours, perfumed with a little mace and a drop of Madeira, and those small forcemeat balls my cook shapes by hand. My guests, I assure you, are never fooled — and the conversation is all the better for it.
Ingredients (period version)
- Half a calf's head — one (gelatinous base and meat)
- Beef shin or leg — one piece (rich broth)
- Onions, carrots, celery — a few (aromatics)
- Mace and cloves — a pinch (signature spices)
- Lemon zest and juice — one lemon (acidity)
- Madeira or Sherry — a glass (aromatic binding)
- Flour and butter — for the roux (thickener)
Ingredients
- Veal shank (or trotter + shoulder) — 1 kg (replaces calf's head, gelatin and meat)
- Beef shin — 400 g (rich broth)
- Onion, carrot, celery stalk — 1 each (aromatics)
- Mace (or nutmeg) and 2 cloves — 1 pinch (spices)
- Lemon (zest + juice) — 1 (acidity)
- Madeira or dry Sherry — 100 ml (aromatic)
- Butter — 40 g (roux)
- Flour — 40 g (thickener)
- Breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, nutmeg — for the forcemeat balls (forcemeat balls)
Method
- Put veal and beef in a large pot, cover with cold water, add onion, carrot, celery, mace and cloves. Bring to a simmer and skim.
- Simmer gently for 3 hours, until meats are tender. Strain broth, bone and dice the meat.
- Shape forcemeat balls: mix some minced meat, breadcrumbs, parsley, nutmeg and egg; roll into balls and poach 5 min in broth.
- Make a brown roux with butter and flour, whisk in hot broth to thicken soup slightly.
- Add diced meat, forcemeat balls, lemon zest and juice, then Madeira. Adjust salt and pepper.
- Serve very hot in shallow bowls, with a thin lemon slice.
How it was made : Green turtle soup, imported alive from the Caribbean, was a ruinous luxury of 18th- and 19th-century banquets. Mock Turtle Soup was its democratic imitation, popularized in all bourgeois kitchens — so much so that Lewis Carroll made it a character, the Mock Turtle in *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland* (1865), contemporary of Babbage.
The contemporary twist : Serve it in a steaming consommé cup with a mace breadstick laid across, and name it “Difference Engine Soup”: every spoonful calculated to the gram.
Sources : Isabella Beeton, Book of Household Management, 1861 · Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, 19th ed.
Charles Babbage · Charactorium