Maryland Style Turtle Soup

It isn’t often that a wild game dish nearly wipes out an entire species. It happened fairly recently when Chef Paul Prudhomme introduced the world to the magic of blackened redfish. Back in the late 1800s, it nearly happened along the Maryland shore of the Chesapeake Bay, to the diamondback terrapin. The recipe for the terrapin, which is a type of turtle, came from a man who would soon be known as the Terrapin King.

A similar turtle soup recipe nearly wiped out a turtle species on the Chesapeake Bay in the late 1800s. Images by author

Philadelphian Albert T. LaVallette arrived in the fishing village of Crisfield, Maryland in 1887. He brought with him a Caribbean inspired recipe for turtle soup, and a smooth talking ability to get restaurants all up and down the East Coast to serve it. Furthermore, LaVallette got those same restaurants to sign contracts making him the sole supplier of the then plentiful diamondback terrapins, which were the main ingredient in the recipe.

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He quickly set up shop and begin paying what, in those days, was big money for the small turtles. Local watermen stopped fishing and starting rounding up turtles. The soup’s popularity soared. The Terrapin King soon built a grand house right on the shore of the Bay. You can still see it today as you leave the city dock in Crisfield and head toward Smith Island. And it still stands out in the mostly blue collar fishing town.

Sadly, the soup’s popularity soon drove the diamondback terrapin nearly to extinction. Attempts were made to farm the small turtle, but they were never successful. Protections were eventually made for the diamondback and they have bounced back well. But you can’t use them to make soup.

Today, many area restaurants and locals still serve a turtle soup, but they mostly use snapping or farmed turtle meat. The exact recipe he used has been lost to time, but the Tidewater Inn in Easton has been serving a version for nearly 50 years. This recipe relies heavily on theirs, with a few tweaks here and there to make it my own. Unlike some of the Cajun style turtle soup recipes, this one includes chopped hard boiled eggs to give the finished product a heartier sustenance. I use fire roasted tomatoes for the extra flavor, but regular diced tomato works if you don’t like the black specks that come with the fire roasted style.

Chopped hard boiled eggs make a thicker soup.

Start by cleaning a 12- to 15-pound snapping turtle. You can leave the meat on the bone, then debone after the first cooking step.

Start with clean snapping turtle meat.

Next, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 of lard (or vegetable or olive oil if you prefer) to a large dutch oven or skillet.

Brown the turtle meat in a bit of oil.

Brown the turtle meat in the butter mixture for 5-8 minutes or until lightly browned on all sides. Transfer the browned turtle to a stock pot.

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Pour in the chicken and beef stock, and the water.

Roughly chop the aromatics.

Add the celery, carrots, and onion, along with the pickling spice and a bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Add the broth, turtle meat, pickling spice and carrots, onion and celery to a large pot.

Cook for 1-2 hours or until the turtle is tender. Gently use a slotted spoon to remove the turtle pieces to a plate. Let them cool.

Strain the vegetables from the stock, reserving the stock. I do this by lining a colander with cheese cloth and suspending it over a large bowl. Carefully pour the cooking liquid through the colander.

Strain out the cooked vegetables, reserving the stock.

Set the broth aside and dispose of the cooked vegetables. Pull the cooled turtle meat from the bones and use your fingers to shred it. Set the turtle meat aside.

Picked the cooked turtle meat from the bones.

Rinse the dutch oven and return it to the heat. Add ½ cup butter and ½ cup of all purpose flour. Gently stir the roux until it reaches a dark peanut butter brown. Stir in the reserved stock, whisking well as you do to prevent lumps.

Return the stock and the turtle meat to the pot.

Return the cooked turtle meat and the garlic to the pot. Stir well. Add the canned tomatoes, the tomato puree, lemon juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Return the mixture to a simmer or light boil until it starts to thicken.

Simmer until the soup thickens a bit.

Add the sherry and chopped hard boiled eggs.

Add the sherry and chopped hard boiled eggs.

Check for seasoning and add additional salt, pepper and hot sauce, if needed. Serve warm with saltine crackers. Makes about 1 ½ gallons of soup.