Efforts rather to preserve terra-
pins than to propagate them have
not yet beer very successful. Ter-
rapins may be kept in an enclosure
from Summer to Winter, but it is at
the sacrifice of their delicacy as food,
penned terrapins losing their fine
flavor and becoming tough and
stringy. Some years ago a discovery
was made as to a new method of
feeding terrapins. In Washington,
where some terrapins had been put
in a pond, a neighboring field of
clover had been cut. Some of the
clover having fallen from the scythe
into the pond, the terrapins were
seen to eat it with the same avidity
as would a cow.
TERRAPIN - FISHING.
" Boil your terrapin for two hours,
until the skin on the legs peels off;
the pick the terrapin out of the shell
and remove its gall-sac; then stew,
by adding a quarter of a pound of
butter, a taste of red pepper and the
squeeze of a half lemon; put as much
water as will stew, pour in a dash of
sherry, and leave the rest to nature."*"*
Thus "Tommy" Boylan, of Guy's,
in Baltimore, to the artist and the
writer, and there is no better autho-
rity on terrapin from Savannah to
the Patapsco River.
Turtle may be fit for aldermeiii
but terrapin is food for princes, and
a terrapin-stew✪ Terrapin Stew might be served by
Hebe to the immortal gods in high
Olympus.
Terrapin are caught from Savan-
nah and Charleston up to the Pa-
tapsco River at Baltimore, while the
genuine "diamond-back" is only to
be found in the upper Chesapeake
and its tributaries. A diamond-back
never measures less than seven inches
in length on the under shell, a seven-
inch being known as a " count ter-
rapin," while anything under the
length of a "count" does not count.
Ten inches long and eight pounds in
weight is reckoned a very large ter-
rapin, the seven-inches weighing, on
an average, four pounds.
During the season, terrapins sell
for $30 to $38 per dozen; while
"sliders" — common river turtles,
principally caught in tlie James
River — which sell at from $6 to $8
per dozen, are palmed off by skill-
ful restaurateurs as genuine diamond-
backs on unwary but ambitious
guests, at a dollar and a half the
dish.
The male terrapin is known as the
"bull," the female as the "cow," the
lady being more in request on account
of her thirty eggs, which are used to
garnish the delectable dish.
The artist and I having consigned
our lives and limbs to the custody of
the darkest darkey my eyes ever
alighted upon, and to the most rickety
of crazy skiffs, were paddled up a
small tributary of the Chesapeake
Bay, situated at about six miles from
Annapolis, on a terrapin-searching
expedition. Having quitted the sanc-
tuary of the boat for the more genial
atmosphere of the mud, our darkey,
who was armed with a long, thin
pole, commenced to probe the bot-
tom— he was wading waist-deep-
COOKING FOR PROFIT.
219
to use the technical term, to "sound"
for terrapin. His practiced sense of
touch tells him when he taps terra-
pin, and if they are numerous, he
marks his prey, and returns to grab
them with a net.
Page 362 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Efforts rather to preserve terrapins than to propagate them have not yet been very successful. Terrapins may be kept in an enclosure from Summer to Winter, but it is at the sacrifice of their delicacy as food, penned terrapins losing their fine flavor and becoming tough and stringy. Some years ago a discovery was made as to a new method of feeding terrapins. In Washington, where some terrapins had been put in a pond, a neighboring field of clover had been cut. Some of the clover having fallen from the scythe into the pond, the terrapins were seen to eat it with the same avidity as would a cow.
TERRAPIN - FISHING.
"Boil your terrapin for two hours, until the skin on the legs peels off; then pick the terrapin out of the shell and remove its gall-sac; then stew, by adding a quarter of a pound of butter, a taste of red pepper and the squeeze of a half lemon; put as much water as will stew, pour in a dash of sherry, and leave the rest to nature."*"*
Thus "Tommy" Boylan, of Guy's, in Baltimore, to the artist and the writer, and there is no better authority on terrapin from Savannah to the Patapsco River.
Turtle may be fit for aldermeiii but terrapin is food for princes, and a terrapin-stew might be served by Hebe to the immortal gods in high Olympus.
Terrapin are caught from Savannah and Charleston up to the Patapsco River at Baltimore, while the genuine "diamond-back" is only to be found in the upper Chesapeake and its tributaries. A diamond-back never measures less than seven inches in length on the under shell, a seveninch being known as a " count terrapin," while anything under the length of a "count" does not count. Ten inches long and eight pounds in weight is reckoned a very large terrapin, the seven-inches weighing, on an average, four pounds.
During the season, terrapins sell for $30 to $38 per dozen; while "sliders" — common river turtles, principally caught in tlie James River — which sell at from $6 to $8 per dozen, are palmed off by skillful restaurateurs as genuine diamondbacks on unwary but ambitious guests, at a dollar and a half the dish.
The male terrapin is known as the "bull," the female as the "cow," the lady being more in request on account of her thirty eggs, which are used to garnish the delectable dish.
The artist and I having consigned our lives and limbs to the custody of the darkest darkey my eyes ever alighted upon, and to the most rickety of crazy skiffs, were paddled up a small tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, situated at about six miles from Annapolis, on a terrapin-searching expedition. Having quitted the sanctuary of the boat for the more genial atmosphere of the mud, our darkey, who was armed with a long, thin pole, commenced to probe the bottom— he was wading waist-deep-
to use the technical term, to "sound" for terrapin. His practiced sense of touch tells him when he taps terrapin, and if they are numerous, he marks his prey, and returns to grab them with a net.
Records on this page
Terrapin Stew