Recipe: MOCK TURTLE SOUP

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"Hot mockturtle vapour and steam of newbaked jampuffs rolypoly poured out from Harrison's. The heavy noonreek ticked the top of Mr. Bloom's gullet.... Pungent mockturtle oxtail mulligatawny. I'm hungry too."
--James Joyce, Ulysses

"Of course I'm a Turtle
But am I real or Mock?
I leave it to
Hilaire Belloc."
--Ogden Nash (1931)

Mock Turtle Soup

I'm happy for the turtles--but miss the extraordinary turtle soup I ate in my youth at the little grill across from Reading Terminal in Philadelphia. Now that sea turtle meat is prohibited by law, this recipe makes a fair substitute. Interestingly, even when turtle meat was legal, it was terribly expensive. As a cheap substitute in the 18th century, therefore, recipes appeared in England that recommended the use of calf's head or even veal as being similar in taste and consistency. American cooks turned to beef or oxtails, when they couldn't get native turtle meat, and followed the British seasonings of allspice, sherry, and hardcooked eggs. Serve this meaty American version hot as a rich first course to 4-6 people, with little cruets of sherry on the side.

1 large onion, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon butter and 2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs. meaty oxtails
1 garlic clove, mashed
3 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 Tablespoon flour
3 cups hot water
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup chopped peeled tomatoes
salt and pepper
1/2 thin-skinned lemon, chopped (rind and all)
1 Tablespoon parsley
2 hard boiled eggs

Brown onion in the butter and oil, add the oxtails and brown slightly. Add the spices and herbs, then stir in the flour until it bubbles, adding more butter and oil as needed. Pour in the hot water and stock and bring to a boil. Add the remaining ingredients, except the egg and sherry. Simmer for 2 hours. Remove the oxtail, cut the meat and marrow away--add back to the soup and discard the bones.

When ready to serve, chop the eggs coarsely and stir into the soup. Ladle into bowls, stir in a teaspoon of sherry to each, top with parsley...and put a cruet of sherry on the table, for atmosphere if nothing else.