Turtle Soup

Turtle soup — made from snapping turtle, alligator snapping turtle, or farm-raised soft-shell turtle — is one of the oldest continuously served dishes in New Orleans fine dining. Commander's Palace has served it since the Brennan family took over in 1974, and their version — dark, thick, sherry-laced, with hard-boiled egg and a forcemeat of ground turtle — became the benchmark against which all other versions are measured. The dish connects to the English turtle soup tradition (a London dining club obsession of the 18th century), to the West African tradition of cooking river and swamp creatures in one-pot stews, and to the specific ecology of southern Louisiana where snapping turtles are abundant in the waterways. It is simultaneously colonial fine dining and bayou subsistence food, depending entirely on whose table it's on.

A thick, dark brown soup built on a dark roux, beef stock, turtle meat (ground and cubed), tomato, the trinity, heavy sherry, and a suite of spices dominated by allspice and clove. The colour should be nearly black from the roux and the long reduction. The consistency should be thick enough to coat a spoon heavily. The sherry — added tableside at Commander's Palace — should perfume the bowl with each spoonful. Hard-boiled egg, chopped fine, goes in at the end and provides a creamy, protein-rich texture against the dense soup. Lemon wheels float on top.

Lemon wheels floating on the surface — the acid cuts through the dark, rich, sherry-heavy broth. French bread on the side. Turtle soup is a first course followed by something substantial but less rich — grilled fish, a salad, something that resets the palate after the soup's intensity.