18 FRESH-WATER TURTLES. 



PREPARATION OF TURTLES FOR THE TABLE. 

 KILLING THE TURTLE. 



Notwithstanding the formidable appearance offered by the shell, 

 the killing and dressing of turtles is a comparatively easy matter, 

 and the men at the fish markets soon become expert at it and can 

 kill and clean them with surprising rapidity. The first step is to 

 get the animal to protrude its head. In the case of the snapper, this 

 is easily accomplished by presenting to its head a stick of suitable 

 size for the reptile to snap. It takes tenacious hold, and the head 

 can readily be pulled out. The heads of the other species may be 

 made to protrude by applying pressure, as with the foot, to the back 

 or upper part of the shell. After the neck is well stretched out the 

 turtle can readily be decapitated. At fish markets, where man}^ 

 turtles are dressed, the cleaners usually have a killing plank with 

 a sharpened spike driven through at an angle, and the spike is thrust 

 through the chin during the process of stretching. 



Once beheaded, a sharp knife is run around the edges of the skin 

 where it joins the shell and the skin pulled back over the legs to the 

 feet, which are then disjointed. The lower part of the shell or 

 plastron is then removed by cutting through the bridges which 

 join the upper and lower shells, cutting close to the lower part of 

 the shell. With snappers and soft-shells, in which the bridges are 

 rather soft and cartilaginous, this can be done with a sharp knife. 

 With the terrapin the bridge may be cut with a hatchet or saw. 

 Having cut the bridges, the plastron or under shell may be readily 

 removed by inserting a sharp knife just under it and lifting it off. 

 This done, the entrails may be extracted with very little trouble, and 

 the four quarters easily taken out from the carapace or upper shell. 

 If one wishes to save the tenderloin in the upper part or "ceiling" 

 of the carapace, the ribs may be cut with a hatchet. To the reader 

 this may appear to be a lengthy and complicated process; but, as 

 stated above, it is a simpler process than killing, plucking, and dress- 

 ing a chicken. 



A visit to a place where turtles are being dressed by professionals 

 would prove very instructive. It need hardly be said that each has 

 his own method as regards the smaller details. Some cut off the 

 feet before skinning; others skin down to the feet and then dis- 

 joint. Some even cut off the feet before decapitation, but this is un- 

 necessarily cruel. The smaller turtles and terrapin are often killed 

 by dropping the living animal into boiling water just as lobsters 

 and crayfishes are killed. This is a convenient method and not 

 especially cruel, as death is practically^ instantaneous. With a large 

 kettle the same method might be used for the soft-shell and snapper. 



RECIPES. 



Doubtless one reason for the general nonuse of turtles for food 

 is the lack of knowledge as to just how to prepare them for the 

 table and the lack of experience with turtles properly cooked. To 

 meet this deficiency, the following recipes, which have been obtained 

 from various available sources, are offered. A few have been gleaned 

 from cookbooks, but most of them have been procured from per- 



